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THE HISTORY OF BRIS lOL, R. I. 



THE STORY 



OK THE 



Mount Hope Lands, 



FROM THE VISIT OF THE NORTHMEN 
TO THE PRESENT TIME. 



CONTAINIKG ACCOUNTS OF THE INDIAN WARS, THE CH AUACTER AND LIVES 

OF THE EAKLY SETTLERS IN BRISTOL, THE EVENTS OF THE 

REVOLUTION, THE PRIVATEERS OF THE WAR DF 

1813, DETAILS OF THE COMMERCE OF THE 

PORT, AND SKETCHES OF ITS 

DISTINGUISHED MEN. 



BY WILFRED H. MUNRO. 



ILLUSTRATGD. 



7/ A 



PROVIDENCE: 
J A & u. A. Heid, PkintersandPuumshkri?. 

18H0. 



Copyright, 1881. 






PREFACE. 



"Whethku I shall do anything worth while, if from the very be- 
ginnincr of the city, I write a history of the Roman people, I neither 
I "w v"ery well, nor if I knew would I dare to say." So wrote the his- 
toiian Livy, as he sat at the window of his study and looked out upon 
the splendid imperial city, rich with the conquests of "^^-"y ^""^^'^j^^.^f 
vears Whether 1 do anything worth while in writing the history of the 
town of Bristol, is not the thought which has troubled me, for every 
contribution to the history of a town or state has a definite and specific 
value From their varied threads the future historian shall some day 
weave into graphic pages a faithful narrative of the progress of Amer- 
ican civilization. Whether I am doing it in a worthy way -has been 
the troublesome question that could never be satisfactorily answered. 
For Bristol has a history peculiarly and strangely interesting to every 
thoughtful man. Very few towns in the whole country can furnish so 
many themes upon which the pen of the historian delights to inger 

In writin- a local history two methods naturally present themselves 
for the choice of him who takes the task in hand. One is, to make it 
simply and only a local history; to give an epitome of all the legislation 
of the town ; to perpetuate and eulogize upon its pages the names of al 
those who have taken a part that has raised them, in even the slightest 
de-ree above the general level of their fellows; to give extended lists of 
those who have been its professional men, its merchants, its artisans and 
its seamen; and to make mention of the houses in which these men 
were born, and lived, and died. Such is the plan which has beeri often 
adopted. It may answer in the case of many towns whose part in the his- 
torv of their state has been light and comparatively unimportant. It 
would not be worthy of the career of this town. 

The other method is, to make the local names and details subordinate 
to the part the town has taken in the development of the state and na- 
tion- and to make extended merticu only of those whose reputation has 
passed beyond its boundaries and ,hf^s become a part of the history of 
the state. Such a method could not be employed in sketching the his- 
tory of most American cities. I have deemed it the better one to pursue 
in writing the history of Bristol. 

This latter method, of course, necessitated a much greater amount ot 



^ HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

labor, and on this account only did I hesitate for a moment before adopt- 
ing it. It is but a little more than a year since the task was undertaken ; 
it is much less than a year since the first page of the book was written.' 
No one who has not been engaged in such work can have more than the 
very slightest idea of the amount of toil which it involves; of the hours 
and days and weeks that must be spent in verifying the statements to be 
presented. The labor of composition is the lightest part. The book 
has, therefore, been hurried to the press under many disadvantages. 
The chapters have been sent to the printer almost before tlie ink was 
dry, and but little time has been afforded even for the final levision of 
the proofs. No opportunity whatever has been furnished for clothing 
in more graceful diction paragraphs that have slipped carelessly from 
tlie pen. 

Abundance of material lias never been lacking. The difiiculty has 
been to select from the great mass of facts those most deserving of rec- 
ord. The reader will therefore very probably search in vain for much 
that he has confidently expected to find. It is undoubtedly true that 
many things have been overlooked and omitted, which ought here to 
be given a place. 1 shall be very glad to be informed concerning such 
subjects, that, if at .some future time a new edition of this book shall be 
called foi-, I may be able to incorporate them in it. I shall also be 
grateful to any persons who will correct me concerning errors which 
have doubtless crept into the work. I have tried to be accurate in my 
statements, but am not so unwise as to suppose that I have unifojmly 
been so. 

Into the matter of genealogy I have not ventured to go. xV very little re- 
search in the genealogical field is sufficient to convince one how impos- 
sible it is satisfactorily to treat the subject. It would, moreover, have 
required much more time than could well be spared from the rest of 
the book. In the history of the churches a sketch of their different 
pastors has very naturally found a place. Very few biographical 
sketches besides have been inserted in these pages. Only men who have 
been unusually prominent, and who have held high official positions, have 
thus been noticed. To pass outside this limit would be a dangerous 
step. It would be exceedingly difficult to determine with whom to be- 
gin, and at whose name to stop. Your pardon, therefore, reader, if I 
have reluctantly allowed the merits of your ancestors to go unre- 
corded. 

In the chapters relating to the Revolution I had intended to place the 
names of those who served as soldiers in the American Army. After a 
careful examination of records it seems so impossible to present any- 
thing like a complete list, that the i?lan was abandoned altogether. Re- 
specting the privateers of the " Wq,r^of aS12 " I also proposed to furnish 
a much more extended account, but'was obliged to limit myself to the 
pages that have been given to the subject. I will be glad to re- 
ceive additional information connected with the privateers and the com- 
mercial history of the port, for another volume, the publication of which 
is now contemplated. 



i>iu-:fack. 



Some corrections necessary in the following pages may as well be 
made in this place. Additional research has furnished convincing proof 
that Poppasquash more nearly conveys the so.und of the Indian name of 
the i)eninsula opposite the town, than any other spelling. The fact that 
the sounds of the vowels in the English language are constantly chang- 
ing, and that our ancestors always made their mode of spellmg conform 
to"the sound, accounts for the various forms of the word found in the 
old deeds. Pappoosesquaw, which has lately been forced into lavor, 
can with difficulty be traced back for a generation. It is an invention 
of the present century, and has an entirely fanciful derivation. It should 
not for an instant be tolerated. Two mistakes, made upon page 'M, 
attest the truth of what has just been written concerning genealogy. 
From Mr. John A. Rowland, one of her descendants, I learn that the 
wife of Jabez Ilowland was not a daughter of Governor Carver. Mrs. 
Howlan(fs~maiden name was Elizabeth TiUey. In the year 1732, the 
.secnml Jabez Ilowland died. The first Jabez died in 1711. On page 76, 
in the paiacrraph upon Nathaniel Oliver, 1G82 should have been the date 
given. On^page 172 one fact should have been stated much more posi- 
tively Capt Thomas Swan was, undoubtedly, concerned in the burn- 
ing of the " Gaspee." In after years he delighted to rehearse the tale 
of its destruction. Many now living have heard, from Captain Swan s 
own lips, of the part Simeon Potter and the boat's crew from Bristol 
took in that memorable affair. Captain Swan used to give the names of 
all his associates, but those names have eniirely escaped the memory of 
his auditors. On page 310 it should have been said that the "Yankee 
had captured -not destroyed -British property amounting in value to 
almost a million of pounds. On page 331, Clyde, i\'. Y., should have 
been given as the present residence of the Kev. William Stowe. 

To mention the names of all those who have contributed to the infor- 
mation embodied in this volume, would require very many paragraphs. 
My obligations are greatest to Mr. Bennett J. Munro, and Mr. William P. 
Monro. The former has, from his youth up, delighted to plunge into 
the records of the past, and from thein he has extracted a very great 
amount of local information. The ready memory and remarkable 
knowledge of the latter has very rarely failed to aid me when informa- 
tion concerning any important point in the history of the town has 
been desired. To Mr. Alexander Perry I am also greatly indebted. 
Through his courtesy in placing the books of his grandfather James 
DeWolf, at my disposal, I have been enabled to. present the statistics 
given in the chapter on the " Yankee." 

My task is by no means completed, even according to the plan l my- 
self had marked out. but the limit originally assigned to the pages of 
the book has been considerably exceeded, and the demand for its pub- 
lication has become imperative. Just as it is, with all its imperfections 
and shortcomings, I must present The Story of the Mount Hope Lands to 
the kindly consideration of its readers. Lovingly and reverently, as it 
becometh one of her sons to write, 1 have written the history of Bristol. 



I 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

1 have tried, as Livy tried, to call to life again the vanished past ; to 
place before her people a faithful picture of what the old town has been 
— that, looking upon it, and cherisliing ever the memory of the match- 
less enterprise and wise forethought their fathers once displayed, they 
may be inspired to deeds which shall prove them worthy sons of those 
energetic and patriotic sires. 

Shall I attempt, with prophetic hand, to draw aside the veil which ob- 
scures her future ? The busy hum of machinery now resounds through 
her streets. Almost deserted is her harbor, and the wharves, that once 
groaned beneath the load of foreign freights, are dropping slowly to 
pieces; besides the daily steamers, only a few coasting vessels glide oc- 
casionally over its tranquil waters. It will not always be so. Not alone 
Its merchant ships have vanished ; the ships of the whole country have 
almost passed away as well, and cautious capital has sought the surer 
profits manufactures seem to offer. But in course of years there will 
be a change. As the manufactures of the West are gradually developed , 
the great mill-owners of the East will be obliged to seek other markets 
for their products. Again, as in other days, it will be easier and more 
profitable to reach them over the highway nature has placed at our 
doors, than over those constructed by the hand of man. In process of 
time, also, if we can judge of the future by the past, by the West itself 
will a foreign market be needed, and then at least, if not before, the 
seas will again be covered with American keels. The great sea-port 
cities of to-day will not suffice to accommodate that mighty commerce, 
and other great commercial centres will grow up along our shores. 
This spacious, land-locked harbor will then once more be crowded with 
ships, as of old, and the streets of the town will once more be thronged 
with seamen. We may not, we probably shall not, live to see it; our 
children possibly may not,— but our children's children .surely will. 

WILFKED n. MUNRO. 
Bristol, R. I., Dec. 11, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



CHATTER I 



The Visits of the Nokthmen. - The voyaoe of Leif Encson, 
^ A D 1000 -Sails up Seaconnet River - Erects dwellings on 
shores of Mount Hope Bay -The German, Tyi-kei-^ discovers 
grapes -Expedition of Thorvald, A. D. 1002- Of Karlse m- 
Inorri Thorfinnson, born A. D. 1007 - Origin of name, Morant 
Hope -Eric, Bishop of Greenland, sads to Vmland - Disap- 
pearance of the Greenland Colony, . • • • 

CHAPTER II. 

THE VOYAGE OF Veruuzano. - Sails along the American coast, 

A. D. 1524 -Description of the people - Voyage of ^d^'"^^"^ ^^_^^ 
Block, . 

CHAPTER III. 

The First Visitto Massasoiet. - First appearance of Massasoiet 
-The Pokanoket Indians - Winslow and Hopknis visit «ie 
chieftain -Three Indian villages on Mount Hope ^^^^ " ^^; ^T-SO 
scription of savage life, 



tion of the visit, 

CHAPTER V 



(; H A f i ili n i V . 

The Second Visit to Massasoiet. - Massasoiet sick -Edward 
Winslow and John Hampden visit him - Winslow s descnp- 



From the Death of Massasoiet to the Beginning of Phil- 
ip's WAR. - Preparations of Philip - Death of John Saus^aman, ^^^^^ 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 
C H A P T E K V I . 

^Tenf rf ^^"r^^""P'« messenger sent to incite war, 1675- 
Benj. Church - June 20, war begun by Indians - English march 
upon Mount Hope -Church's fort- Destruction w oVght ^y 
the Indians -Death of Philip -Captain Church's account, 

Pages 41-52 
CHAPTEK VII. 
QuESTio^v OF OwNKKSHiP AN« JoHX Cbowne. - Dispute respect 
me '7n7 ' :' ^^"^"""^^ '''''' - ^^'^- ^' John ctwue-nt 

Pages 53-5T 

\ CHAPTEK VIII. 

Royal Gkant of Mou^t Hope Lam.s to Plymouth Colony, 

Pages 58-59 
CHAP T E Pv IX. 

^""vr^^'u'""',^'^''""""''"""^"'"'"^ ^'•^"^J^ "1^0" Walley, Oli- 
ver, Byfieid, and liurton, /^^^^ ^^_^ 

CHAPTEPv X. 

Nathaniel Bvfield.-HIs parentage and birth -Petition for 
exemption from military service -His dwelling-houses -Of- 
H-flT r"!^ appearance - Mr. Baylies' account of his life - 
His hfemBnstol- Epitaph Pages 6-5-73 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Othei. PiroPiuEToi:s. - John Walley - Stephen Burton -Na- 
thaniel Oliver -Nathan Hayman, .... P^OES 74-76 

CHAPTER XII. 

^'TJrT''^T- ~ '"'''' ^'^^•^•''^™ - I-'-ivileges contained in the 
deed -First town-meeting -The name Bristol -List of citi- 
zens admitted at first town-meeting, .... PAGE8 77-70 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Benjamin Chuuch. -Birth and parentage - Goes to live at Sea- 
counet- Characteristics, physical and mental - Extract from 
autobiography - His house in Bristol - Expeditions to the east- 
ward - Treatment from Massachusetts - Death, . Pages 80-86 



CONTENTS. » 

CHAPTER XIV. 
John Saffin. — His character and life — His retraction, Pages 87-90 

CHAPTER XV. 

Otheu Eauia' Settle lis. —John Cary— Nathaniel Bosworth — 
Nathaniel Eeynolds — Hugh Woodbury — William Throope — 
Nathaniel Paine — Samuel Waldron — Jabez Gorham — Chris- 
topher Sanders — William Brenton — Jabez Hovvlaud — Rich- 
ard Smith, Pages 91-93 

C H A P T E R XVI. 

How THE Town avas Laid out. — Abstract of the Grand Articles 
and explanation of the Deed of Highways — 128 house-lots laid 
out — no.) acres in small farms — Lands for public use — For- 
feit for not settling — Sisners — Four streets north and south 
— Nine cross streets — Commonages — Ministry lands and 
school lands, Pages 94-100 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Some Old Houses. — The first houses — The Bosworth house — 

The Walley house — The two Byfteld houses, . . Pages 101-109 

(MIAPTER XVIII. 

Gleanings fkom the Records of the Fikst Half-Ckntuky. — 
Provisions for the minister — The Book of Marks — Duties of 
Selectmen and Constables — Rates made Dec. 22, 10S2 — List of 
Freemen — Towns of Bristol County — Market Day — Town 
Shepherd — Decision of Mass. Governor respecting the Privi- 
leges of the town — Grist-mills, cattle, blackbirds, foxes, etc.— 
Births, marriages and deaths 110-124 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Fikst Chukcu. — Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge — The meeting- 

liouse— Rev. Samuel Lee —Rev. John Sparhawk, . . 125-134 

CHAP T E R XX. 

The McSpakuan Difficulty.- James McSparran chosen minis- 
ter — Dr. Mather's opposition — Town and church meetings — 
Goes to England and is ordained in Church of England, . . 135-140 



^^ HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

St. Michael's Church. -Services in the Walker House -Petition 
to England - Subscriptions to church - Eev. James Orem - Im- 
prisonment of Church of England people - Rev. John Usher - 
First vestry - Bell - Negro baptism - Kay bequest - Protest - 
Church burnt -Rev. Dr. Caner-New church -Rev. John 
Usher, Jr. -Rev. A. L. Clarke - Kev. A. V. Griswold, . 141-156 

CHAPTER XXII. 

More Recokds. - Blazing chimneys -Fire and storms-Small- 
pox- Wharf built -Failure of grain -Prices of merchandise, 
etc. — Burying-grounds — Annexed to Rhode Island - First R 
I. meeting -List of Freemen -Laws and Oaths concerning 
bribery - Banks - Rope-walks - Vendue masters - Ministers 
exempted from taxation — Bounties - Old Tenor bills — Com- 
merce — Stocks and whipping-post, . . . , 1.57-166 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Dkstruction of the " Gaspee." - The capture and burning 
of the " Gaspee " - Testimony of Aaron Briggs - Song by Capt 
Thos.Swan. ^^ 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Simeon Potter. -Early life -Rhode Island privateers- Father 
Fauque's account of the " Prince Charles of Lorraine " — Anec- 
dote of Mr. Potter. -His life in Bristol -Protest against the 
taxable valuation of the town — Death, . . Pages 17.5-185 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Census Statistics FROM 1748-1880.- General statistics -Census 

^^ ^'^'^4 Pages 186-192 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CORRESPOKDENCE, ETC., BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. - Meeting 

concerning "Boston Tea Party " —Resolutiorfs- Letter of 
town clerk — Subscription list- Letter of Wm. Bradford — 
Letter from Boston committee — Donations from Rhode Island 
— Proposals for altering the Constitution of Rhode Island, 

Pages 193-201 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVII 



11 



The Bombardment.— The fleet of Sir James Wallace — Extract 
from letter of LeBaron Bradford in Newport Mercunj — Poem 

— Incidents - Epidemic - Death of Rev. John Burt, Pages 202-208 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Burning.— The British land upon the Neck and descend 
upon Warren —They march to Bristol alons the main road — 
Incidents — Enumeration of houses burnt — Conduct of the 
soldiers- Anecdotes, Pages 20i>-218 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Congregational Church, 1720-1880.— Day of fasting and 
prayer appointed — Rev. Nathaniel Cotton, pastor — Rev. Bar- 
nabas Taylor — The throat distemper — Rev. John Burt— New 
church erected 1784 -Rev. Henry Wight- Letter concerning 
politics -Rev. Joel Mann -The " Blue Hall " - " The Hall" 

— The Sunday School — Rev. Isaac Lewis — Rev. John Stark- 
weather— Rev. Thos. Shepard — Third church erected 18.56 — 
Notice of Dr. Shepard from Providence Journal — Rev. C. P. 
Osborne — The Memorial Chapel — Rev. J.. P. Lane — Officers, 

Pages 219-233 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Days OF War and Days of Peace. —Conditions of towns of 
Narragansett Bay during the war— War measures — Intrench- 
ments — Post Office established— Isaac Eslick's exploit — Block- 
ade of the bay — Letter from Lord Percy —Row galley " Wash- 
ington " — Distress of citizens — Storms — Lafayette — Winter 
1779_S0— Polls and ratable property — General Washington's 
visit- The Mt. Hope farm — The Borland farm — The Vassal 
farm — Census of l7So — Fire engines — Paper money — Peti- 
tion to Congress — Distilleries — Artillery Company formed 
— Tavern bill — Richard Darby - The Potter library — Death 
of Washington, Pages 234-252 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

William Braofoku.— Birth and early life —Character— Pro- 
fessional and political life, and public services, . Pages 253-257 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Benjamin Bourne.— Sketch by Nathaniel Bullock, Pages 258-260 



1'2' HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The Methodist CHuncn 1790-1880. — Kev. Jesse Lee— Rev. 
George Whitefield — First sermon in Bristol — First class — 
Early trials — Meeting-house built in 1805 — Eplnaim K. Avery 

— New church dedicated 1856 — Rev. Joseph Snelling — Rev. 
Asa Kent — Rev. Thomas W. Tucker — Father Taylor — Rev. 
Isaac lionney — Rev. Dr. Morrison — List of ministers — Offi- 
cers— Correction, Pages 261-273 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

The Voyage of "Nohwkst John."— Capt. John DeWolf sails 
from Bristol in the ship "Juno" upon a voyage to the north- 
west coast — Sells his vessel to the Russian American Company 
and comes home by the overland route through Siberia, 

Pages 274-279 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

Brsnop Griswoi.d and the Gkeat Revivals. — Bishop Gris- 
wold's early life and ministry — Visits Bristol and accepts a 
call from St. Michael's Church — His style of preaching — Con- 
dition of P. E. Church in Rhode Island — He is elected bishop 

— The revival of 1812 — Dr. Tyng's account of the revival of 
1818 — Bishop Griswold leaves Bristol — His literary work — 
Divinily school in Biistol — Epitapli, . . . Pages 280-294 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The Baptist Chukch, 1811-1880. — Sketch by Rev. H. JSI. Jones- 
First Members — Rev. J. M. Winchell — The Stone Chapel 
erected — Lotteries — Rev. Barnabas Bates — Vote of Town — 
Succession of Ministers — Rev. J. N. Sykes — Rev. H. G. Hub- 
bard — Rev. H. M. Jones— Rev. H. Crocker —Officers, Pages 295-301 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The Yankee. — Owners — Officers — Articles of Agreement — 

Cruises, Prizes, and Profits, Pages 302-310 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

The Other Puivateeks. — The " Water Witch " — The " Hiram " 

— The "Rambler" — The "Blockade " — The " Macdonough " 

— The "Yankee Lass," Pages 311-315 






CONTRNTS. 13 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

The Septkmhkr Gat.ks ok 1815 and l.S()9, . . Paoes 316-321 

CHAPTER XL. 

James DeWolt. — Mark Anthony DeWolf — Early life of James 
DeWolf — His business capacity and success — His conduct in 
the war of 1812 — Political Honors, etc., . Pagks 322-325 

CHAPTER X L I . 

St. Michael's Ciiukcii, 1830-1880. —Rev. John Bristed — New 
Church, 1S34: — Rev. James W. Cooke — Rev. Josepli Trapnell, 
Jr. — Rev. William Stowe — Burning of Church — Fourtli Church 
Consecrated 18GI — Rev. Dr. Balch — Rev. G. L. Locke — New 
Chapel — Officeis Pages 32{;-335 

CHAPTER X L 1 1 . 

The Schools. — Town votes upon school matters — Tlie Teach- 
ers — School Lands — Quotations from Miss Luther's Historical 
Sketch — Notices of Teaclicrs — The Bylield School — Dedica- 
tion Ode Pagks 33G-347 

CHAPTER X L I I I . 

The Slave TiiADE. — The African business — Statistics fronK 
speech of Judge Smith of South Carolina, . . Pages 348-353 

CHAPTER X L I V . 

The Romax Catholic Chuhch, 1854-1880. — Rev. M. McCallion — 
Bishop Cheverus — Erection of church in 1855— Its enlarge- 
ment in 1S70— Remarks of Bishop MacFarland upon the 
growth of the church throughout the diocese — Rev. C. J. 
Rogers, Pages .354-357 

CHAPTER X L V . 

The Roll of Honor. — List of Bristol soldiers and sailors, 

Pages 358-362 

CHAPTER X L V I. 

Trinity Chuuch, 1875-1880. — Bequest of Mrs. Ruth B. De- 
Wolf — First services — First vestry — Rev. S. Moran — Church 
built 1S7S — Rev. J. H. Johnson — Officers, . Pages 363-305 



14 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

CHAPTER XL VII. 

Some Details Rrspecting the Commekce. — Early commercial 
ventures — Bristol customs district created 1801 — Amount of 
duties collected each year from 1801-1825 — The DeWolfs — 
Whaling vessels — Table of tonnage from United States Treas- 
ury Department, Pages 366-372 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

The Pkincipal Manufactures. —Ship-building — The Herres- 
hoff Manufacturing Company — The cotton mills— The butt 
factory — The steam planing-mill — The oak'um works — The 
sugar refinery — The firearms manufactory — The National 
Rubber Company, Pages 373-375 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

Gleanings from the Last Fifty Years. — The Dorr War — 
Nathaniel Bullock — Byron Diman — Francis M. Dimond — J. 
Russell Bullock — Railroad — Steamboats — Loss of territory 
— Robert Rogers — Rogers Free Library — Press of Bristol — 
The South Christian Society — The Advent Society — The 
Bi-centennial Celebration, Pages 376-383 

CHAPTER L. 
The Roll of Representatives, .... Pages 384-387 
APPENDIX. — The Inscription upon the Rock, . Pages 389-390 



Illustrations. 



Baptist Church, 397 

BoswoRTH House, 103 

Bristol from the water, Opposite Title. 

Chapel of St. Michael's Church, 333 

Cold Spring Monument, 43 

Congregational Church, 2.30 

High Street, from Church to State, 3.37 

Methodist Church, 207 

Mount Hope, 195 

" Portrait of Benjamin' Church, Opposite 80 

V Portrait of Nathaniel Byfield, Opposite (35 

^ Portrait of Bishop Griswold, Opposite 280 

^ Portrait* of Thomas Shepard, D. D., Opposite 231 

Portrait of Ambrose E. Burnside, Opposite 358 

Residence of A. O. Bourn, 215 

Residence of Mrs. M. DeW. Rogers, 341 

Residence of W. T. C. Wardwell, 317 

Residence of Dr. L. W. Briggs 117 

Residence of C. A. Greene, 1^3 

Residence of Mrs. R. D. Smith, 227 

Residence of Mrs. R.amon Guiteras, 329 

Residence of Capt. John Collins, 129 

Residence of F. A. Easterbrooks, 211 

Residence of Gen. A. E. Burnside, 1^7 

Residence of Dr. J. C. Gallup 241 

Residence of S. P. Colt, 369 

Rogers Free Library, 380 

Rubber Works, Opposite 375 

St. Michael's Church, 1*^ 



355 
223 



St. Mary's Church, 

Town Hall, 

Trinity Church, 

The Inscription on the Rock, 

Warehouse of W. H. Bell, 251 



365 
389 



Chapter l 



THE VISITS OF THE NORTHMEN. 

In the year of our Lord 1000, almost five centuries before 
the sight of the green shores of Guanahani gladdened the 
weary eyes of Christopher Columbus, Leif Ericson sailed 
up the Pocasset River, and landed upon the shores of Mount 
Hope Bay. He was one of that hardy Northern race whose 
home has always been the ocean, and whose sails even now 
overshadow the waters of every sea in the known world. In 
the spring of that year, so runs the Icelandic saga, he bought 
the ship of his countryman, Biarni Heriulfson, manned it with 
a crew of thirty-five, and sailed from Greenland to explore 
some strange shores lying far to the south. These shores 
Biarni had seen (but had not explored) several years before, 
when, in crossing from Iceland to Greenland, adverse winds 
had driven him several hundred miles below his intended har- 
bor. 

Having first visited the lands which Biarni had last seen 
(Newfoundland, which they called Helluland or the Land of 
Broad Stones, and Nova Scotia, to which they gave the name 
of Markland, the Land of Woods), the Northmen landed 
upon an island lying to the south of the Cape Cod peninsula 

* The limitecl space which must necessarily be given to the Northmen in the 
pages of this booli will not, of course, suffice for a full discussion of their 
claims. The author has therefore deemed it best to make a simple statement of the 
facts which their advocates have attempted to prove. For a full discussion of the 
subject the reader may consult Rafn's Antiquilatcs Americana-. The very admir- 
able pamphlet by Mr. Alexander Farnum of Providence, is, without doubt, familiar 
to many who will read this. 

2 



18 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

where they perceived a peculiar sweetness in the dewf Tlien 
fQllowing the coast the explorers came to land at a place 
" where a river flowed out of a lake." The tide was low, and 
the shoals at the mouth of the Seaconnet River were even 
more extensive than at the present time. The impatient 
seamen were therefore obliged to wait for the rising tide to 
cover the shallows and afford a passage for their ship. With 
the tide they passed up the river and cast anchor in the lake. 
Here they disembarked and erected temporary habitations, 
but afterward, having determined to remain during the winter, 
built permanent dwellings from the stone which was so abun- 
dant upon the shores. 

The waters of the rivers and bay abounded with fish of all 
kinds, and the salmon were of greater size than any before seen. 
Many wild animals were found in the forests. To these wander- 
ers from the dreary Arctic regions, the land seemed wondrously 
fair, and the climate exceedingly soft and mild. They thought 
that cattle would be able to find provender in winter, as no 
intense cold occurred ; " no snow fell,t and the grass did not 
wither much." " The equality in length of days was greater 
than in Iceland or Greenland. On the shortest day the sun 
remained above the horizon from 7.30 to 4.30.":j: 

When the dwellings were completed, Leif divided his men 
into two companies to explore the country ; when one com- 



* Probably the island of Nantucket, which is noted for its honey dew. 

+ The statement need not be taken literally, though the Northmen probably 
chanced upon a winter as free from snow and ice as that just passed, — 1879-80,— 
which would have seemed most mild to one coining from a country like Norway 
or Iceland. The grass has not " withered much," but has been green around many 
of our dwellings. So also the grass must then have been green in the sunny open- 
ings, protected fi-om the cold north winds by the dense forests which covered most 
of the peninsula. W^e must also take into consideration the well-known fact that 
this part of America has become colder by reason of the change in the direction 
of the current of the Gulf Stream, and the descent of the Arctic ice. It is, perhaps, 
well to remind some of our readers that the Bristol peninsula is never, in winter, 
as cold by several degrees as the neighboring towns, and that snow, suiflcient for 
sleighing, is not of common occurrence. Moreover, the Northmen did not find the 
succeeding winters as mild. 

$ This enables us to determine the latitude of the place. They had Skalholt, 
Iceland time. The sun can rise and set at the time mentioned, on its shortest day, 
Oct. 1", only in latitude 41 degrees, 21 minutes, 10 seconds, almost exactly that of 
Mount Hope Bay. 



THE VISITS OF THE NORTHMEN. 19 

pany went out from the camp the otlier was to remain as a 
guard, and the exploring party was never to go so far that it 
could not return on the same evening. Special charge was 
given them to keep together. In all his arrangements Leif 
showed himself a man well fitted for his position ; he was 
wise and moderate in all things, and exceedingly careful of the 
safety of his men. Like almost all of the Norse chieftains, he 
was a man " strong, and of great stature," and his bearing 
was most dignified. 

Among the party was a German, Tyrker by name, who had 
lived for many years with Leif's father in Iceland and Green- 
land. One day, when the exploring party came back, Tyrker 
was missing, and Leif, with twelve others, went in search of 
their lost comrade. Kefore they had gone far they met him 
returning, but the appearance of the German was most singu- 
lar. While he seemed partly to recognize his companions, he 
yet stared strangely about, and addressed them not in Norse, 
but in his native tongue. After a time his mysterious behav- 
ior was explained ; he had wandered a little way from his 
party and found some vines with ripe grapes upon them. 
Tyrker had been born and brought up in a country where 
grapes abounded, but during the many years of his sojourn in 
the lands of ice and snow, the remembrance of it had almost 
faded from his mind. As he ate the pleasant fruit, the 
scenes of his youth came again before his eyes ; with the rec- 
ollections of his childhood crowding upon him, he went back 
to join his comrades, and to tell them what he had found, but 
the merry voices of his German playmates were still ringing 
in his ears, and the Norse language was for a time forgotten. 
His discovery caused great joy, and was deemed so important 
that the name of Vinland was given to the country. 

On the next day they began to gather and cure grapes, and 
to cut down timber, with which to load their ship for the 
return voyage. They filled their long boat with the grapes, 
and in the early spring went back to Greenland. 

The return of Leif, and the accounts which his sailors gave, 
naturally caused much excitement in that quiet community, 



20 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

and ill the spring of 1002, Tliorvald Ericson, taking Ins 
brother's sliip, and probably some of his old crew, started on 
another voyage to Vinland. His olijcct was to make a 
thorough exploration of the new country. To these ventur- 
ous seamen, accustomed to navigate the cold and stormy 
ocean which lay between the Icelandic colonies and their 
ancestral Norway; the journey to the sunny shores of tliis new 
land must have seemed only a pleasant excursion. The dis- 
tance from Greenland to Vinland was no greater than that 
between Greenland and Norway, and the seas were never as 
boisterous. 

Tliorvald perished in this expedition, and so the account 
given is not as minute as we could wish. His followers nat- 
urally remembered and repoi-ted only the main facts of the 
voyage. They reached Vinland in safety, and passed three 
winters in the dwellings which Leif had erected, and which 
they called Leifsbudr, or Leifsbooths. Tiie first year was 
spent in exploring the lands lying to the southward ; in the 
second summer the adventurers turned their steps to the re- 
gions northof Cape Cod, and in this northern expedition Thor- 
vald Avas shot and killed by the Skraelings, (natives).* His 
comrades buried him upon a promontory which they called 
Krossaness, — the Promontory of Crosses, — from the crosses 
which they placed over his grave,! ^^^^ returning, passed the 
winter of 1004-5 in Leifsbooths. They went back to Green- 
land in the spring of 1005, and carried with them a large 
quantity of grapes, as their predecessors had done. 

Two years later a more important character appeared upon 
the scene. Thorfinn Karlsefni sailed from Iceland on a 
voyage to the country of grapes — tarried for a while in 
Greenland, where he married his wife Gudrid, and tlien with 
three ships and one hundred and fifty-one (151) men, pro- 
ceeded on his journey. With tliem went Gudrid and six 
other women, wives of the principal leaders, for it was pro- 

* The name is derived from the verb skraela, and means lean or shrivelled men. 
t Christianity had been introduced into Greenland by Leif Ericson in 999. 



THE VISITS OF THE NORTHMEN. 21 

posed to colonize the land. Thorfiiiu wintered on the sliorcs 
and islands of Buzzard's Bay, and here, in tlie year 1007, 
Snorri Thorfinnson * Avas horn, as far as we know the first 
child of European blood who was born on the soil of the 
American continent. 

Tlic spot which had been selected for their winter encamp- 
ment seemed most pleasant, and promised abundant pastur- 
age for the cattle which the explorers liad brought with them. 
But tlie mild breezes which had fanned the shores of Vin- 
land seven years before no longer blew. The cold blasts came 
sweeping down from the north, the forests were blocked with 
snow, the waters covered with ice. The would-be colonists, 
relying upon the mildness of the climate, had brought no 
stores with them ; they could neither hunt nor fish, and so 
almost perished from hunger. A whale, cast up upon the 
shore, saved them in their time of greatest need, and furnished 
them a food supply until the sun loosened the icy fetters 
which had been fastened upon them. 

Coasting along the shore in the spring of 1008, Thorfinn 
came to the " river flowing through a lake " which Leif had 
described, was detained by the shallows at its mouth, as 
Ericson had been, and at high tide sailed up to where the 
river opened out into the lake. 

This place the Northmen called Hop.f 

The dwellings which had afforded ample shelter for Leif 
and his party of thirty-five, could not accommodate this expe- 
dition of almost five times that number. Additional houses 
were erected, some near the bay, others at a distance from its 



* From him the sculptor Thorvuldsen is descended. 

+ This probably was the origin of the Indian name Haup, or Montaup, from which 
the present name Mount Hope is derived. The Plymouth settlers only anglicized 
the name which had been given to the Mount Hope Lands by the Indian owners. 
There is no mention made in the saga of the return of two of the cliiefs of this 
expedition to Iceland. It is quite likely that, with some of their followers, they 
remained at Hop and married some of the Indian women. Thus, while all traces of 
them would be lost in the course of a few generations, yet some of the names 
•which they gave might be retained. It is difficult otherwise to account for the 
name Haup, which many familiar with the Indian language have declared to be not 
Indian, and which yet was undoubtedly applied to the country by the native tribes 
when the English colonists first heard of the territory. 



22 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

shores. Thorfinn noticed that where the land was low, corn 
grew wild ; where it rose higher, vines were found. He, also, 
was struck with the abundance of the fish,* and reported, 
besides, that many wild animals were found in the forests. 
This description agrees well with the accounts given almost 
seven hundred years later by the earliest settlers of Bristol. 

The winter of 1008-9 was mild; no snow fell, and the 
cattle lived unhoused. 

In the autumn of 1008, the Skraelings visited the little set- 
tlement, and in the following spring came again in great 
numbers to exchange their skins for goods. The traffic was 
broken off by the appearance of one of the bulls wliich Thor- 
finn had brought with him, and which had been turned loose 
to graze. Tliis creature rushed bellowing from the forest, 
and so terrified the Skraelings that tlicy paddled away in 
their canoes as quickly as they could. After a month they 
came back again, this time not to barter, but to fight ; and in 
the engagement which followed, two of the Northmen fell, 
and numbers of the natives were killed. 

This battle convinced Thorfinn's people tliat the lands, 
though excellent in quality, would yet be undesirable for a 
colony, by reason of the hostility of the other inhabitants. 
Retracing their course, thei'eforc, they remained for a time 
at their first winter encampment, then sailing homeward, 
reached Ericsfiord, in Greenland, in 1010. 

From this time expeditions to Vinland became frequent, 
" for they were esteemed both lucrative and honorable," and 
being frequent, were not regarded as worthy of special com- 
memoration. ^Ye have, however, in the AriLiquilates Amer- 
ican(s, an account of one other, that of Freydis, and her hus- 
band Thorvard, which was made in 1011. Freydis was a 
daughter of Eric, and sister of both Leif and Thorvald, and 
it is by reason of tliis kinship that her story is given. It is 



* The Northmen dug pits in the sand where the tide rose highest, and at low tide 
there remained " sacred tish " in these pits. The name "sacred fish " is still used 
in Iceland, and is given to flatfish of the flounder and halibut kind. These may be 
caught in the same manner to-day. ^ 



THE VISITS OF THE NORTHMEN. 23 

quite probable tliat other narratives may hereafter be brought 
to light. 

The annals of Iceland record tliat in 1121 Eric, Bishop of 
Greenland, sailed thence to Vinland, wliich would seem to 
prove that a permanent colony had been established there. 
In 1347 it is stated in the same annals, that a Greenland 
ship on a voyage to Markland was driven by a stress of 
weather to Straumfiord,in Iceland, just as we in the paper of 

to-morrow may read that the ship from New York to 

Canton, has taken refuge in Newport harbor, to escape the 
terrible storm which is raging outside. 

The last Bishop of Greenland was appointed in 1406, and 
since that time the Colony has never been heard of. Its two 
hundred and eighty villages can only be traced hj the exten- 
sive ruins along the sliores. Whether the colonists were 
overwhelmed by tlie masses of ice wliich came surging down 
from the polar regions, or whether they were killed by the 
natives, we have no means of knowing. Perhaps they 
perished througli the fierce feuds which often sundered tliose 
northern communities ; perhaps they sailed southward to die 
in the country which Biarni Heriulfson had discovered. 
The midnight of the Dark Ages had settled upon Europe, and 
all interest in the fate of that remote people was lost. For 
more tlian three liundred years the Greenland Colony disap- 
peared from liistory, and with it all knowledge of Yinland 
passed away from the minds of men. Only within a com- 
paratively recent period liave tlie old parchments on wliich 
these deeds were recorded been rescued from oblivion, and 
even now they are accessible to most readers only in the Latin 
translation, which the society of Northern Antiquarians has 
published. 



Chapter ii. 



THE VOYAGE OF VERRUZANO. 

The discoveries of Columbus, and the marvelous tales re- 
specting the inexhaustible fertility and the wondrous treasures 
of silver and of gold of the countries whicli he had brought 
under the sway of Spain, induced many of the sovereigns of 
Europe to send out exploring vessels which should secure for 
them also, by right of discovery, a share in these rich posses- 
sions. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, and one which has 
been often noticed by historians, that nearly all of the famous 
captains concerned in American explorations in the early part 
of the sixteenth century, were Italians. Among these was a 
Florentine named Verruzano (or Verrazani), who sailed in 
the employ of King Francis I., of France. The account of 
his voyage, which is here given, is condensed from Hakluyfs 
Voyages, 3d volume of the Quarto Edition, published in 
London in the year 1800. The narrative is specially interest- 
ing because it contains the earliest full description of the 
coast and the people of North America. 

In the spring of 1524, Verruzano sailed along the coast 
from North Carolina to Newfoundland, in the ship Dauphin 
(Dolphin), and gave the whole country the name of New 
France. Without disembarking, he passed Block Island, which 
he describes as being "in form of a triangle, distant from the 
main land ten leagues," (the French league was then seven- 
tenths of a mile shorter than the present league,) '' about the 
bigness of the Island of Rhodes ; it was full of hills, covered 
with trees, well peopled, for we saw fires along the coast ! We 
gave it the name of Your Majesty's mother."* 

* Louise was the name of the mother of Francis I. 



THE VOYAGE OF VERRUZANO. 25 

" We came to another land, being fifteen leagues distant 
from the island, where we found a passing good haven, 
wherein being entered, we found about twenty small boats of 
the people, which, with divers cries and wonderings, came 
about our ship, coming no nearer than fifty paces toward us, 
they stayed and beheld the artificialness of our ship, our shape 
and apparel, then they all made a loud shout together, declar- 
ing that they rejoiced ; when we had something animated 
them, using their gestures they came so near us that we cast 
them certain bells and glasses, and many toys, which, when 
they had received, they looked on them with laughing, and 
came without fear aboard our ship. 

" They were dressed in deer-skins, wrought artificially 
with divers brandies like damaske, their hair was tied up 
behind with divers knots. This is the goodliest people, 
and of the fairest conditions that we have found in this our 
voyage ; they exceed us in bigness, they are of the color of 
brass, some of them incline more to whiteness, others are of 
yellow color, of comely visage, with long and black hair, 
which they are very careful to trim and deck up, they are of 
sweet and pleasant countenance. The women are very hand- 
some and well formed, of pleasant countenance, and comely 
to behold ; they are as well mannered as any women, they 
wear deer-skins branched or embroidered as the men use, 
there are also some of them which wear on their arms very 
rich skins of Luzernes,* they wear divers ornaments accord- 
ing to the usage of the people of the East. 

" Every day the people repaired to see our ship, bringing their 
wives with them, whereof tliey are very jealous, and caused 
their wives to stay in their boats, and for all the entreaty we 
could make, we could never obtain that they would suffer 
them to come aboard our ship. There were two kings of so 
goodly stature and shape, as is impossible to declare ; the 
eldest was about forty years of age, the second was a young 
man of twenty years old ; and when they came on board, the 



This animal (the luzerne or lucern), is by some supposed to be the lynx. 



26 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

queen and her maids stayed in a very light boat, at an island 
a quarter of a league off. 

"The mouth of the haven lieth open to the south, half a 
league broad, and being entered within it, between the east 
and the north it stretcheth twelve leagues, where it waxeth 
broader and broader, and makes a gulf about twenty leagues 
in compass, wherein are five small islands, very fruitful and 
pleasant ; full of high and broad trees, among the which islands 
any great navy may ride safe. This land is situated in the 
parallel of Rome, in 41 degrees and 2 terces. The 5th of May 
we departed." 

Verruzano found vines and grapes, as the Northmen had 
found them in Vinland so many years before, and he also 
speaks of " oaks and cypress trees, and other sorts unknown 
in Europe, damson and nut trees. Beasts were there in great 
abundance, as harts, deer, luzernes, and other kinds." The 
boats of these Indians were made of one log, hollowed out by 
means of fire and tools of stone, and large enough to carry ten 
or fifteen men. '• Their houses were made in circular form, 
ten or twelve paces in compass, covered with mats of straw, 
wrought cunningly together." For fifteen days the ship of 
the Italian captain lay at anchor in the harbor of Newport, 
while in his boats he made many excursions up the bay, and 
without doubt visited the spot where Bristol now stands. 

In the year 1614, Adrian Block, a Dutch navigator, starting 
from New Amsterdam, first of all Europeans sailed through 
Hurlgate, explored the coast of Connecticut, and fixed his 
own name upon that island to which Verruzano had given the 
name of the mother of his royal employer. "Afterward, 
like his Italian predecessor, he sailed into Narragansett Bay, 
where he commemorated the fiery aspect of the place, caused 
by the red clay in some portions of its shores, by giving it the 
name of Roodt Eylandt, — the Red Island, — and by easy trans- 
position, Rhode Island."* It is very probable that his vessel 
anchored in the harbors of the Mount Hope Lands, but no 
complete narrative of his voyage can now be found. 

* Arnold's Hist, of K. I., I. TO. 



Chapter hi. 



THE FIRST VISIT TO MASSASOIET. 

On the 22d of March, 1621, a band of Indian warriors 
appeared on a hill which overlooked the little settlement of 
the Plymouth colonists. Their chief was "a very lusty man, 
grave of countenance, spare of speech, in his attire differing 
little or nothing from his followers." His face was painted a 
" sad red " and oiled, as were those of his subjects ; a great 
chain of white bone beads was about his neck, and from it 
hung a little bag of tobacco. "In his bosom, hanging in a 
string, was a great long knife." The faces of some of the 
warriors were only half painted, others were stained with 
various colors, while some cheeks were decorated with crosses 
and with the strange figures in which the savage taste de- 
lighted. The bodies of some were naked, others were clad 
in skins. All the Indians bore the weapons common to sav- 
age warfare in their hands, and ''all were strong, tall men in 
appearance." They were chosen warriors from the Pokano- 
ket tribe of Indians, and their chieftain was Massasoiet. 

When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massasoiet was 
one of the most powerful of the North American sachems, 
though his dominions had been terribly afflicted by the same 
pestilence Avhich, shortly before that time, had almost annihi- 
lated the other Indian tribes of New England. Nearly all 



* Tills name is usually written Massasoit. The historical writers of the earlier 
days seemed to reeoj^nize an additional vowel sound whieh this later spelling by 
no means conveys ; the older form has therefore been adoi)tod here. 



28 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

the tribes inhabiting the country lying between the Massachu- 
setts and the Narragansett bays acknowledged his supreme 
control, and many of the surrounding tribes also owned their 
dependence upon him. 

Under the general name of Pokanokets all these smaller 
triljes were included. The ravages of the plague had reduced 
the number of their warriors from three thousand to five hun- 
dred, but the Wampanoags, the particular tribe of Massasoiet 
and his successor, Philip, had suffei-ed less severely than their 
neighbors ; by reason of the fertility of the land which they 
inhabited, and the uncommon facilities for fishing which its 
waters afforded, they were rapidly recovering from its devas- 
tating effects. At this time, however, the number of their 
fighting men did not exceed sixty. 

Massasoiet had heard strange tidings of this band of colo- 
nists which had come from unknown lands beyond the sea. 
Stories of their undaunted courage, their unshaken spirit in 
the midst of the most terrible trials, and above all, of those 
wondrous weapons whose mighty and mysterious voice called 
their victims to instant death, had reached his ears. With 
the genius of a statesman, he saw at once the advantages 
which would result from an alliance with such powerful neigh- 
bors, and so at the earliest possible moment he had come to 
make with them a treaty of peace. The result of the visit 
was satisfactory to both parties. A treaty, proposed by the 
Governor, and agreed to by Massasoiet, was concluded, " and 
its conditions were faithfully observed for a period of fifty- 
five years, exhibiting an instance of unexampled good faith, 
fidelity and honesty in both parties." 

In July, 1621, Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins were 
sent by Governor Bradford to return the visit of Massasoiet. 
The object of the journey was "to gain a better knowledge 
of the country, to ascertain the strength and power of the 
sachem, to apologize for some misbehaviors, to strengthen 
and regulate an intercourse, to procure corn, and to strengthen 
their mutual good understanding." They carried with them, 
as presents, a horseman's laced coat of red cotton and a cop- 



THE FIRST VISIT TO MASSASOIET. 29 

per chain. With them went the Indian, Squanto, as guide and 
interpreter.* 

Tiie residence of the chieftain was at Sowams, in tlie terri- 
tory of Pokanoket. When tlie English landed at Patuxet. the 
name Montop (or Montliaup), which had been given by the 
Indians to the hill in Bristol, was by them anglicized to Mount 
Hope, and the name of Mount Hope Neck was given to the 
whole country as far as Miles' Bridge, in Swanzea. " On 
this neck were three Indian villages, — Montop, located near 
the Mount ; Kikemuit, around the spring of tliat name, and 
Sowams, or Sovvamset, near the spot where tlie village of 
Warren now stands," f and not far from the old boundary line 
between Warren and Bristol. As Massasoiet was absent when 
they reached his residence, one of tlie Plymouth men at- 
tempted to charge his gun, in order to give notice of their 
arrival, but the women and children were greatly frightened, 
and their terror could not be appeased until he had desisted, 
and the interpreter had explained their pacific intentions. 
The cliief, having been apprised of their arrival, soon returned, 
and received them with much joy ; he accepted, with pleas- 
ure, the presents which they had brought, and immediately 
proceeded to attire himself therewith. The salute which they 
gave him on his arrival, by discharging their muskets, seemed 
to charm liim greatly, and the gorgeous raiment delighted 
both the sachem and his followers. The Englishmen re- 
quested Massasoiet to send this chain as a token, wlieneverhe 
sent any messengers to Plymouth, in order that no deception 
might be practiced. To all the requests which they brought 
forward, Massasoiet gave a ready assent, and after he had 
addressed the messengers he harangued his own people, set- 
ting forth his authority over more than thirty places, and 
directing them to carry their furs and skins to the English. 

* Squanto was the sole remaining native at Patuxet, or Plymouth, when the Pil- 
grims landed. He was one of the twenty-seven Indians who had been treacher- 
ously carried away some years before by tin- English Captain, Hunt. He had lived 
for some time in London, and had learned a little English. He became greatly at- 
tsiehed to the Plymouth colonists, and continued their firm friend until his death. 
His name is also written Squantum and Tisquantum. 

+ Fessenden's History of Warren. 



30 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

His speech was received with great applause. " After this," 
the narrator goes on, " he lighted tobacco for us, and fell to 
discoursing of England and the King's majesty." He en- 
treated Winslow to use his influence with the colony to pre- 
vent the French from trading at Narraganset, saying that " it 
was King James' country and he was King James' man." He 
evidently feared the power of the Xarragansets ; said that 
they were a strong people, and had suffered nothing from the 
plague. 

As Massasoiet had not been informed of the intended visit 
of the colonists, and had been absent for some time before 
their arrival, no provisions had been collected at Sowams. 
The sachem and his guests were therefore compelled to go 
supperless to bed, a striking illustration of the unthrift which 
characterizes savage life. The abode of the chief was a wig- 
wam a little larger than those of his followers. The sleeping- 
place was a platform of boards, raised somewhat above the 
o-round and covered with a thin mat. On this bed, says the 
English chronicler, Massasoiet placed his visitors, " with him- 
self and his wife, they at one end and the Englishmen at the 
other, and two more of Massasoiet's men pressed by and upon 
them, so that they were worse weary of the lodging than the 
journey." 

On the next day came many of the neighboring chiefs with 
their followers to see the visitors. At one o'clock of that day 
Massasoiet was able to set upon the table two large boiled 
fishes which had been shot that morning. These fish were 
all the food at hand with which to satisfy the hunger of the 
sachem's guests, now numbering somewhat more than forty. 
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that Winslow and Hop- 
kins, notwithstanding the fact that Massasoiet importuned 
them to stay longer, deemed it best to depart on that day, 
which they did, leaving the chief both grieved and ashamed 
that he could entertain them no better. 



Chapter iv. 



THE SECOND VISIT TO MASSASOIET. 

In March, 1623, tidings came to Plymouth that Massasoiet 
was sick and likely to die, and also that a Dutch vessel had 
been stranded near his residence. The Indians, when sick, 
always expected visits from their friends. It therefore seemed 
best to Governor Bradford to send another party to visit the 
chief and to have a conference with the Dutch. The talents 
of Edward Winslow, his former visit, his friendship to Mas- 
sasoiet, and his knowledge of the Dutch language marked him 
as the most fit man for the expedition. With him went, as a 
companion, an English gentleman whose home was in London 
but who was sojourning at Plymouth, and who greatly desired 
to see the Indian country. For this young man, fate had in 
store a most glorious future. To him it was reserved to take 
the lead of the English people in their struggle against the 
arbitrary power of the Crown, and to shed his life-blood in 
that great contest which gave to England a free constitution. 
His name was John Hampden. An Indian, Hobbamock, Avent 
as guide, for Squanto, Winslow's guide in his first "visit, had 
died some time before. The story is given in Winslow's own 
graphic words, though his account is somewhat shortened. 
" We set forward and lodged the first night at Xamaskct.* 
The next day, about one o'clock, we came to a ferry f in Combi- 
tant's country. Upon my discharging my piece, divers Indians 
came to us from a house not far off. There they told us that 
Massasowat was dead and that day buried. This news struck 

* Middleborougli, Mass. t Across the Taunton River. 



32 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

US blank, but especially Hobbamock, who desired we might 
return with all speed. I told him I would first think of it, 
considering now that he being dead, Combitant was most 
like to succeed him, and that we were not above three miles 
from Mattapuyst, his dwelling-place. Although he were but a 
hollow-hearted friend to us, I thought no time so fit as this to 
enter into more friendly terms with him and the rest of the 
sachems thereabout ; and though it were somewhat dangerous 
in respect of our personal safety, because myself and Hob- 
bamock had been employed upon a service against him which 
he might fitly revenge, yet esteeming it the best means, 
leaving the event to God in His mercy, I resolved to put it in 
practice if Master Hamden and Hobbamock durst attempt it 
with me; whom I found willing to that or any other course 
might tend to the general good. 80 we went toward Matta- 
puyst. In the way, Hobbamock brake forth into these 
speeches: ' My loving sachem, 0, my loving sachem! Many 
have I known, but never any like thee.' And turning him to 
me, said, whilst I lived, I should never see his like amongst 
the Indians ; saying he was no liar, he was not bloody and 
cruel, like other Indians; from anger and passion he was soon 
reclaimed ; easy to be reconciled toward such as had offended 
him ; and that he governed his men better with few strokes, 
than others did with many ; truly loving where he loved ; yea, 
he feared we had not a faithful friend left among the Indians; 
showing how he ofttimes restrained their malice, etc., — con- 
tinuing a long speech with signs of unfeigned sorrow. 

'• At length we came to Mattapuyst and went to the sachem's 
place, but Combitant was not there but at Puckanokick, which 
was five or six miles off. The sachem's wife gave us friendly 
entertainment. Here we enquired again concerning Massa- 
sowat ; they thought him dead, but knew no certainty. Where- 
upon I hired one to go with all expedition to Puckanokick. 
that we might know the certainty thereof, and withal to ac- 
quaint Combitant with our there being. A))Out half an hour 
before the sun setting the messenger returned and told us he 
was not dead, though there was no hope we should find him 



THE SECOND VISIT TO MASSASOIET. 33 

living. Upon this we were much revived, and set forward 
witli all speed, tliough it was late within night ere we got 
thither. When we came thither, we found the house so full of 
men as we could scarce get in, though they used their best 
diligence to make way for us. There were they in the midst 
of their charms for him, making such a hellish noise as it 
distempered us who were well, and therefore unlike to ease 
him that was sick. About him were six or eight women who 
chafed his arms, legs, and thighs to keep heat in him. Wlien 
they had made an end of their charming, one told him that 
his friends, the English, were come to see him. Having un- 
derstanding left, but his sight wholly gone, he asked who was 
come. They told him, Winsnow, — for they cannot pronounce 
the letter 1, but ordinarily use n in place thereof. He de- 
sired to speak with me. When I came to him, and they told 
him of it, he put forth his hand to me, which I took. Then 
he said twice, though very inwardly, 'Keen Winsnow?' 
which is to say, 'Art thou Winslow?' I answered ' Ahhe,' 
that is, yes. Then he doubled these words: 'Matta neen 
wonckanet nanem, Winsnow ! ' that is to say, ' 0, Winslow! I 
shall never see thee again.' Then I called Hobbamock and 
desired him to tell Massasowat that the Governor, hearing of 
his sickness, was sorry for the same ; and though by many 
businesses he could not come himself, yet he sent me with 
such things for him as he thought most likely to do good in 
this extremity, and whereof if he pleased to take I would pres- 
ently give him ; which he desired, and having a confection 
of many comfortable conserves on the point of my knife, I 
gave him some, which I could scarce get through his teeth. 
When it was dissolved in his mouth he swallowed the juice 
of it; wliereat those about him much rejoiced, saying he had 
not swallowed anything in two days before. Then I desired 
to see his mouth, which was exceedingly fm-red and his tongue 
swelled in such a manner as it was not possible for him to 
eat such meat as they had. Then I washed his mouth and 
scraped his tongue. After which I gave him more of the 
confection, which he swallowed with more readiness. "J'hen 
he desired to drink ; I dissolved some of it in water and gave 

3 



34 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

him tliereof . Within half an hour this wrought a great alter- 
ation in him in the eyes of all that beheld him. Presently after, 
his sight began to come to him, which gave him and us good 
encouragement. I inquired how he slept, and they said he slept 
not in two days before. Then I gave him more, and told him 
of a mishap we had by the way, in breaking a bottle of drink, 
saying if he would send any of his men to Patuxet, I would 
send for more of the same ; also for chickens to make him 
broth, and for other things which I knew were good for him ; 
and would stay the return of his messenger if he desired. 
This he took marvelous kindly, and appointed some, who 
were ready to go by two of the clock in the morning ; against 
which time I made ready a letter. 

" He requested me, that the day following I would take my 
piece and kill him some fowl, and make him some English 
pottage, such as he had eaten at Plymouth, which I prom- 
ised. After, his stomach coming to him, I must needs make 
him some v/ithout fowl, before I went abroad. I caused a 
woman to bruise some corn, and take the flour from it, and 
set over the broken corn, in a pipkin, for they have earthen 
pots of all sizes. When the day broke we went out, it being 
now March, to seek herbs, but could not find any but straw- 
berry leaves, of which I gathered a handful and put into the 
same ; and because I had nothing to relish it, I went forth 
again and pulled up a sassafras root and sliced apiece thereof 
and boiled it till it had a good relish, and then took it out 
again. The broth being boiled, I strained it through my 
handkerchief, and gave him at least a pint, which he drank, 
and liked it very well. After this his sight mended more and 
more; also, he took some rest; insomuch as we with admira- 
tion blessed God for giving His blessing to such raw and 
ignorant means, himself and all of them acknowledging us 
the instruments of his preservation. 

"That morning he caused me to spend in going from one to 
another amongst those who were sick in the town, requesting 
me to wash their mouths also, and give to each of them some 
of the same I gave him, saying they were good folk. This 
pains I took with willingness, though it were much offensive 



THE SECOxXD VISIT TO MASSASOIET. 35 

to me. After dinner he desired me to get liim a goose or 
duck, and make liiin some pottage therewitli, with as much 
speed as I could. So I took a man with me, and made a sliot 
at a couple of ducks, some six score paces off, and killed one, 
at which he wondered. So we returned forthwith and 
dressed it, making more broth therewith, which he much 
desired. Never did I see a man so low brought, recover in 
that measure in so short a time. 

"About an hour after he began to be very sick, cast up tlie 
broth, and began to bleed at the nose, and so continued the 
space of four hours. Concluding now he must die, they 
asked me what I thought of him. I answered, his case was 
desperate, yet it might be it would save his life ; for if it 
ceased in time, he could forthwith sleep and take rest, which 
was the principal thing he wanted. Not long after his blood 
stayed, and he slept at least six or eight hours. When he 
awaked I washed his face, and bathed and suppled his beard 
and nose with a linen cloth. But on a sudden he chopped 
his nose in the water and drew up some therein, and sent it 
forth with such violence as he began to bleed afresh. Then 
they thought there was no hope ; but we perceived it was but 
the tenderness of the nostril, and therefore told them I 
thought it would stay presently, as indeed it did. 

" The messengers were now returned ; but finding his stom-, 
ach come to him he would not have the chickens killed, but 
kept them for Ijreed. Many whilst we were there came to 
see him ; some, by their report, from a place not less than a 
hundred miles. *To all that came, one of his chief men 
related the manner of his sickness, how near he was spent, 
how his friends, the English, came to see him, and how sud- 
denly they recovered to him this strength they saw. Upon 
tiiis, his recovery, he brake forth into these speeches : ' Now 
I see the English are my friends, and love me, and whilst I 
live I will never forget this kindness they have showed me.' 
Being fitted out for our return, we took our leave of him ; 
who returned many thanks to our Governor, and also to our- 
selves for our labor and love ; the like did all that were about 
him. So we departed." 



Chapter v. 



FROM THE DEATH OF MASSASOIET TO THE BEGINNING 

OF KING Philip's war. 

Massasoiet lived for thirty-nine years after the second visit, 
and ever remained the firm friend of the white men. The 
election of Winslow to the governorship served to render 
him still more attached to the colonists. Whatever he could 
► accomplish by his influence, or bring about through his 
power, was used to strengthen their interests. He saw ship- 
load after shipload of new settlers disembarking and landing 
upon his ancestral domains. For all these he cheerfully fur- 
nished homes by making new grants from the unimproved 
but fertile lands of his broad territory. Ere he died, the 
feeble band which had landed at Plymouth had become a pow- 
erful colony ; already their kinsmen began to look with covet- 
ous eyes upon the fair Indian heritage, and day by day to en- 
croach upon the domains of their dusky neighbors. Massa- 
soiet beheld without alarm their attempts at territorial ag- 
grandizement ; his savage mind, knowing nothing of the 
mighty energy, the resistless force which had characterized 
the career of his allies in past centuries, could not foresee 
that the time would soon come, when, even upon the vast con- 
tinent of America, there would not be room enough for the 
white men and the Indians to live peaceably together, that 
step by step the Indian must recede to the great plains lying 
far to the westward, there gradually to fall before the deadly 
weapons and still more deadly vices of their once feeble 
neighbors. Tlie Indian sachem saw his tribe increasing in 



DEATH OF MASSASOIET TO KING PIIILIP'S WAR. 37 

power and influence among the neighboring tri])es exactly in 
proportion as the strength of his English allies increased. 
His lands, depopulated as they had almost been by the pes- 
tilence, seemed to him large enough to furnish homes to all 
who might ask for them, and he went down to his grave in 
happy ignorance of the terrible fate which was so soon to 
befall his unfortunate descendants. 

Early in the year 1662, Massasoiet died and was succeeded 
by his son Wamsutta. The reign of this ill-starred chieftain, 
who is better known in history by his English name of Alex- 
ander, was short. Summoned by the English to attend the 
court at Plymouth, to answer some false accusation which 
had been made against liim, his haughty spirit could not brook 
the indignities to which he was exposed ; chafing under the 
disgraces which had been heaped upon him, he fell an easy 
victim to the attacks of a fever, which was no doubt brought 
on by the unfeeling and brutal treatment of the men to 
whom his father had shown so many kindnesses. Before he 
had been for a year the chief of the Wampanoags he died, 
and was succeeded by his brother Philip. 

Of the first years of Philip's reign we know but little. He 
continued to grant new lands to the white settlers, as his 
father and brother had done before him, and gave the colonists 
reason to suppose that he would continue the peaceful policy 
of Massasoiet. Not such was the intention of this Indian 
warrior ; his comprehensive mind clearly discerned the in- 
evitable fate which must befall his people unless the advance 
of the white men was checked, and his active brain early be- 
gan to devise measures which might restore the waning 
sujH-emacy of his race. 

Fair now is the prospect which delights the sons and the 
daughters of Bristol as they stand upon the summit of 
Mount Hope and gaze upon the matchless i)anorama of 
verdant fields, of waving forests, and of sparkling waters which 
lies unveiled before them. The ceaseless enei'gy and the 
wise forethought of their fathers have made these fields to 
" blossom as the rose," their tireless daring has subdued the 



38 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

wild forces of the sea, and made it the highway upon which 
the products of lands lying beneath far distant skies might 
come to contribute to their comfort and to increase their 
riclies. 

But fairer and dearer to the eye of the Indian chieftain 
was the spectacle which more than two hundred years ago 
entranced his wandering gaze. Every spot on which his eye 
rested was I'ich to him from association and tradition. Here 
his ancestors for unknown ages had lived and died. The woods 
had echoed to their joyous shouts as the fierce wild beasts fell 
before their victorious weapons ; the waters had flashed be- 
neath their canoes as the vigorous arras of the dusky oarsmen 
urged them over the tossing billows ; there were the glades 
where the shy maiden had loitered with her delighted lover, 
and just beyond were the green hillsides where the bones of 
his fathers were resting. With an intensity which we of this 
age of change can scarcely realize, the Indian loved the 
home of his ancestors, and every look which Philip gave to 
that beautiful picture must have encouraged him to more 
mighty exertions to secure to his descendants this ancient 
patrimony of his race. 

The fields which he sold to the grasping white men were 
sold for weapons with which he might defend the lands of 
Mount Hope. Week by week, and month by month, the work of 
preparation went on, and while the English were resting in 
fancied security in their cheaply bought homesteads, Philip 
was journeying from tribe to tribe, and by his burning zeal 
inciting each warrior to bear his part in the heroic but unavail- 
ing struggle which was so soon to come. In all his negotia- 
tions, the son of^Massasoiet proved himself a man of extraor- 
dinary ability, the most wonderful Indian leader whom this 
country has produced. Tribes which for centuries had been 
deadly enemies were by him induced to clasp hands in friend- 
ship, and to join the alliance against the common enemy. The 
colonists heard, from time to time, the mntterings of the com- 
ing storm, but did not dream of its terrible might until it was 
almost upon them. The Indian was never inclined rashly to 



DEATH OF MASSASOIET TO KING PIIILIP's WAR. 39 

share his intentions with his neighbors, and the far-reacliing 
plan of destrnction which Philip had devised made secrecy 
more than nsually necessary. Nearly all the tribes of New 
England liad been drawn into the conspii-acy and were only 
awaiting the signal from the sachem at Poivanoket to descend 
with torch, tomahawk and scalping-knife, npon the lonely 
cabins in the country lying between the Penobscot and the 
Hudson rivers. 

The spring of the year 1676 had been fixed upon as the 
time for the general uprising. No wars for thirty-eight years 
had disturbed the peace of the New England colonies, and 
such was their sense of security, and such the art of the 
Indian leader, that but for one of those accidents which often 
thwart the best-laid plans, and which forced the Indians to 
begin the war a little sooner than they had intended, nothing 
could have saved them from entire destruction. 

John Sausaman, a Natick Indian, had been educated by 
Eliot, the Indian apostle, and had by him been baptized. 
Like most of his race who embraced Christianity, he soon 
became weary of the cold formality of the Puritan colonists, 
and again took up his abode with his kindred. When Philip 
went to Plymouth, in 1662, to renew the league which had 
been made by his father, Massasoiet, Sausaman attended him 
as secretary and interpreter. Soon after this he committed 
some offence which brought upon him tlie displeasure of 
Philip, and, fearing the chieftain's wrath, he returned to 
Eliot, was rebaptized, and again took up his residence at 
Natick. Here he soon made himself not only to be held in 
great estimation by the Naticks, but also greatly valued by the 
English. During his sojourn with Philip he had been en- 
trusted with a knowledge of all his plans, and when again a 
resident of Natick he had occasion frequently to visit the 
country of the Wampanoags, and often met the sachem him- 
self. Being a man of much shrewdness, he soon learned the 
desperate plans of Philip and communicated what he knew to 
his friends, the English. Shortly after this time, in the 
spring of the year 1675, he disappeared, and after much 



40 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

search liis dead body was found under the ice in a pond in 
what is now Middleborough, Mass. It was thought that he 
had been killed by the Indians because they suspected him to 
have disclosed their plot. The government of Plymouth, 
even after this warning, took no other precaution than to 
direct a military watch to be kept over Philip's territory. 
For the murder of Sausaman three of Philip's men were tried, 
condemned on evidence which would by no means be deemed 
sufficient at the present day, and executed without any delay. 
This so exasperated the followers of Philip that he could no 
longer restrain their violence. How much of his plan had 
been detected by Sausaman he did not know, but fearing that 
the colonists were apprised of its full extent, he deemed it 
best no longer to check the ardor of his subjects, but at once 
to begin the war. 

The history of this war has been carefully written by able 
historians; it seems advisable, therefore, merely to recount 
its principal events, and to devote these pages especially to a 
description of what was done in the Mount Hope territory and 
the lands bordering upon it. The account follows closely 
the narrative of Capt. Benjamin Church, who was an eye-wit- 
ness of most of the scenes which he describes, and whose 
truthfulness has never been questioned. 



Chapter vi. 



KING PHILIPS WAR. 

In tlie spring of 1675 Philip sent messengers to the chiefs 
of the surrounding tribes, urging them at once to rise against 
the English. Among the rest, six men were sent to Awa- 
shonks, the squaw sachem of the Seaconnet Indians. Shortly 
before this time, however, an English captain liad settled in 
the Seaconnet territory who was destined to exert a mighty 
influence in the war which followed, and whose name at last 
carried with it as much of terror to the Indians as did that 
of Coeur de Lion to the wild hordes upon the deserts of the 
East. His name was Benjamin Church. Captain Church 
ever displayed a most wonderful tact in dealing with the 
Indians. He had already acquired much influence with 
Awashonks, and was invited to be present at the dance which 
was to follow the arrival of the Wampanoag envoys. When 
Church reached the place appointed he found the princess 
herself leading the dance, while around her were gathered 
hundreds of warriors from all parts of her kingdom. The 
Mount Hope men were also there, " with their faces painted, 
their hair trimmed up in comb fashion,* and their powder- 
horns and shot-bags at their backs," as was the custom 
among the Indian tribes when war had been resolved upon. 
The conference which followed was long and stormy, and 
more than once the life of Cliurch was in imminent danger. 
The sturdy warrior manifested no concern for his own safety. 
He told the Indians that " if nothing but war would satisfy 

* Like the comb of a cock. 



42 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

them, he believed he would be a thorn in their sides," and at 
last persuaded tlie wavering Awashonks to throw herself upon 
the protection of the government of Plymouth. At her ear- 
nest solicitation he set out for the Englisli colony, to confer 
with its governor in her behalf, and on the way met Weeta- 
moe,* Queen of Pocasset, whom he also induced to promise 
to remain faithful to the colonists. At Pocasset, Church met 
Peter Nannuit, the husband of Weetamoe, who informed him 
that Pliilip was bent upon war — that he had held a dance at 
Mount Hope for several weeks, and had entertained young 
men from all parts of the country. He also said that James 
Brown, f of Swansey, and Samuel Gorton had gone to Mount 
Hope during the dance. The young men wished to kill Mr. 
Brown, but Philip prevented them, saying that his father had 
" charged him to show kindness to Mr. Brown." Before 
Church could return from Plymouth to Seaconnet the war 
had already begun, and the Seaconnets, like all their neigh- 
bors, were drawn into it ; but although his mission was then 
unsuccessful it was productive of much good toward the end 
of the war, for those Indians were by him persuaded to aban- 
don the fortunes of Philip, and to join themselves as allies to 
the English, when tlie colonists most needed their assistance. 

On Sunday, June 20th, the war was begun by the Indians. 
They plundered the empty houses of the settlers on Pokanoket 
neck. The inhabitants of these houses were all at church, and 
one account says that the Indians offered no violence to the 
settlers whom they met, because an idea prevailed that the 
side would be conquered which should shed the first blood. 
Another writer records that the Indians, while engaged in 
hostile demonstrations, were fired upon and wounded by the 
colonists. 

An express was sent immediately to Governor Winslow to 
acquaint him with the situation. He at once issued an order 

* Weetamoe was the widow of Alexander, and sister of Wootonelianuske, 
Philip's wife. 

+ Brown was a magistrate of Plymouth from 1670-75, and was very active in the 
war. At this time he bore letters from the Plymouth government to Philip, which 
were designed to pacify Philip. Gorton was his Interpreter. 



KING PHILIP S WAR, 



43 




The Cold Spring Monument. 



calling- out the Ply- 
mouth Colony troops, 
notified the Massa- 
chusetts govenior of 
the state of affairs, 
and appointed the fol- 
lowing Thursday to 
be observed as a day 
of fasting and prayer. 
The Plymouth forces 
reached Swansey 
June 21, and were 
posted at Major 
Brown's house and 
at Miles' Bridge.* 
These garrisons were 
at Mattapoiset, in Swansey, twelve miles from Mount Hope. 
In Swansey, then a town covering some miles of territory, 
the first English blood was shed. A party had been sent out 
from the garrison at ^[attapoiset to Ijring in some corn which 
had been left in a deserted house. The Indians fell upon 
them and killed and mortally wounded six men. The noise 
of the fighting was heard at the garrison, but the affair was 
over before reinforcements came. It is said that Philip wept 
when he heard of the death of these men. On the 24th of 
June the colonists were again attacked while returning from 
the fast day service. One man was killed and two were 
wounded. 

The main body of the forces was stationed at Miles' Bridge, 
because over this was the best route to Philip's country, but 
Philip by this time had begun to fear lest he might be hemmed 
in upon the Mount FIopc peninsula, and so on June 29th, 
with all his men, he left Pokanokct and passed over to Po- 
casset (Tiverton). On Wednesday, the 30th, the whole 
English force marched down Mount Hope Neck towards 
Philip's abode. At Keckamuit were found the heads of eight 



Miles' Bridge was over the T'alnior Uivc r, four miles ixnth of Wan-en. 



44 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

men set upon poles. Two miles beyond they came to the 
empty wigwams, where many things were seen scattered 
about in great confusion, thus attesting the hasty flight of 
their owners. Half a mile further on they passed through 
fields of corn and came to Philip's own wigwam. Two miles 
more brought them to Bristol Ferry, without seeing any In- 
dians. The Indian leader had wisely determined that the 
war must be waged in wider fields, and not until he saw his 
allies deserting his lost fortunes, his warriors diminishing 
daily in numbers, and all his hopes withering, did he come 
back to make the last desperate and unavailing stand in de- 
fense of his country and his life. The English remained that 
night near the sea, and on the next day returned to Swansey, 
being convinced that no Indians remained at Mount Hope. 

Captain Church insisted that Philip had gone to Pocasset to 
induce the Indians living in that part of the country to join 
the conspiracy ; that he had not been beaten out of the Neck 
but had gone of his own accord, and that it was advisable to 
fight him at once at Pocasset, before the wavering tribes had 
cast in their lot with his. His counsels were disregarded, 
and the English commander resolved to build a fort which 
should command the principal entrance (by land) to tlie In- 
dian possessions. The plan of building a fort, Church de- 
nounced as being most absurd. It would consume much 
time; forts were useless in Indian warfare, and why, more- 
over, should they build a fort in a country already deserted. 
Nevertheless, the fort was built, *' and instead of a body suf- 



* Note from Fesseudoi's Historij of Warren, 1845. The writei-, after dilig-ent 
search, was fortunate enough to discover the remains of this fort. They are sit- 
uated opposite the narrows of Kickemuit River in Bristol, on the top of the most 
southwestern of several hills, on the north side of a cove. Tliey consist now chiefly 
of the remains of the tire-place in the fort. This fire-place was made by preparing- 
a suitable excavation and laying- low stone walls at the sides and the end, for 
which flat stones were used, evidently brought from the adjoining- beach. The 
remains of those ruins ai'e now beneath the surface of the ground, whicli at this 
place is depressed several inches below the average surface of the g-round in the 
immediate vicinity. The hill is fast wearing away, by tlie action of the water 
wliich washes its base. The wearing away has already reached the fire-place, from 
which the charcoal and burnt stones are often falling down the steeply inclined 
plane beneath. It was here that Captain Church, when on his singular and adven- 
turous expedition to capture Annawan, roasted horse-beef for his men on the 38th 
of August, ISTti. Here, also, he confined several prisoners ; he " had catched ten 



KING Philip's war. 45 

ficiently strong to oppose the force which the Indian cliief 
had gathered at Pocasset, only fifty men (and those unskilled 
in savage warfare) were sent to oppose him. 

(The land on Avliich the fort was erected is now owned by 
Mr. Seth W. Tliayer.) 

Captain Fuller was the leader of this company, and Church 
was its lieutenant. Fuller asked Church whether he would take 
the leadership, saying that " he feared the travel and fatigue 
would be too much for him, as he was ancient and heavy." 
The future conqueror of Philip was only too glad of the op- 
portunity, and cheerfully took it upon himself to excuse Cap- 
tain Fuller from the inconveniences which might befall him if 
he ventured into the hostile territory. For himself, he said 
that he " would rather do anything in the world than stay and 
build that fort." The expedition was only successful in afford- 
ing its leader an opportunity to display his matchless prowess. 
His men did not properly support him, and he was forced to 
return to the garrison at Mount Hope. 

Shortly after this Philip was compelled to retire from the 
Pocasset territory, and fled to the Nipmuck country. Then 
the tide of war rolled away from the Mount Hope lands and 
beat with terrible fury against the unprotected settlements 
in the country lying between Maine and New York. For 
more than a year the dreadful conflict was carried on. All 
New England was in mourning for " the flower and strength 
of the country, who had fallen in battle or been murdered by 
the enemy." At least six hundred men were killed ; thirteen 
towns in Massachusetts, Plymouth and Rhode Island were 
entirely destroyed and many others were greatly damaged. 
" Six hundred buildings, mostly dwelling-houses, were con- 
sumed by tire." The colonists expended more than X100,000 
in their effort to suppress the war, and the loss in goods and 
cattle was immense. But the doom of the Indians was sealed. 
Di'cadful as was the loss of the English, still more horrible 
was tlie fate of the unhappy Philip. One by one the con- 



Inrlifins,"* and they guarded them all night in one of thetlankeis of the old English 
garrison. Sec Church's Histor.v, page i:JO, Ed. of 1H2T. 



46 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

federate tribes abfindoned him ; the friends who had flocked 
to his side in his prosperity deserted liini when Fortune no 
longer smiled. His brother and his most trusted followers 
fell in battle at his side. His wife and his only son were 
taken by the English. Day by day his dominion was con- 
tracted until he could no longer call the ground which he 
occupied his own. He was forced to leave the open coun- 
try in which the Red men had hunted for unknown ages, and 
to take refuge in the deepest recesses of the forests and the 
swamps. Yet even then, so high and unyielding was his 
temper that he put to death one of his followers who liad pre- 
sumed to speak of peace. He seemed to bear a charmed life, 
and passed unharmed through the most deadly perils. He 
assumed so many disguises that it Avas almost impossible to 
recognize him, and this fact may perhaps account for his long 
immunity from wounds. The battle in the Bridgewater 
swamp seemed to shatter his last hopes of safety. After the 
fight one of Captain Churcii's Indians said to him, " Sir ! you 
have now made Philip ready to die, for you have made him as 
poor and miserable as he used to make the English. You 
have now killed or taken all his relations. We believe 3^ou 
will soon have his head, and this affair has almost broken his 
heart." The free child of nature, who had wandered unre- 
strained through mountain forest and verdant meadow, now 
hunted and despairing, " like the deer returned to his natal 
spot to die." 

Not from the weapon of the white man was to come the 
death-bearing missile. His priests had assured him that by 
the hand of the English he should not die, and truly was tlieir 
propliecy fulfilled. Captain Church had succeeded, sometime 
before, in reconciling Awashonks to the English, and had 
taken one lumdred and forty of her subjects into his service. 
During the first part of the war the Plymouth government had 
treated Church most shamefully, but was forced, finally, to 
give him a command suited to his merits. When the news 
was brought to him that Philip had taken refuge in the swamp 
at the foot of Mount Hope, he immediately set out with his 



KING Philip's war. 47 

comi)any for tlic place, being determined at once to effect liis 
capture and tlius terminate the wai-. An Indian deserter in- 
formed liim that the sacliem and his followers liad taken ))os- 
session of a small knoll, on the margin of a miiy swamp, and 
offered his services as a guide. The assaulting company was 
made up both of Indians and Englishmen. They were directed 
to approach Philip's camj) as silently as possible, and not to 
show themselves until daylight. Church rightly conjectured 
that the hunted band woukl rush into the swamp as soon as 
the alarm was given, and therefore placed a part of his com- 
pany in ambush behind the trees, an Indian and an English- 
man being placed together. Philip was relating to liis friends 
a dream which had disheartened him in the night ; the dream 
had placed him in the hands of his foes, and it seemed to hiin 
to presage his speedy end. At this moment one of his fol- 
lowers liappened to glance toward the spot where two of their 
enemies were concealed. The Englishman saw the glance, 
and, thinking himself discovered, fired his gun. The Poka- 
nokets, without resisting, at once plunged forward to escape, 
and Philip rushed straight upon two of the party in amijush. 
The Englishman first aimed at the chieftain, but his gun 
missed fire; his companion. Alderman, one of the Seaconnet 
tribe, fired, his bullet penetrated the heart of Philip, and the 
terrible warrior fell forward upon his face in the mire of the 
swamp. * He was instantly dragged fortli, and the body was 
identified from his scarred hand, which had been badly torn 
some years l>efore by tlie bursting of a pistol. His head was 
afterwards cut off, as was also the hand, and the latter 
was given to Alderman as a trophy. This hand was preserved 

* In 1876 the two hiiiidredth anniversary of Philip's death was observed at Bristol 

with appropriate eerenionies, under the direction of the Rhode Island Historical 

Societ3'. On the summit of Mount Hope a boulder monument, erected in 1877, beai-s 

the inscription : — 

" King Philip, 

August 12, 1676, O. S." 

Beside Cold Spring- a massive block of j?ranite records that : — 

" In the Micry Swamp, im feet W. S. W. 

from this Spring, accordinj? to tradition. 

King Philip fell, August 12, 1076, O. S." 



4» HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

in a pail of mm and exliibitcd by its owner throughout the 
colonies. The headless body was quartered and hung up to 
rot above the ground. As he had caused many an English- 
man's body to lie unburied, so his exulting captors determined, 
that not one of his bones should be buried. 

Thus, on the 12th of August, 1676, fell this illustrious 
sachem, the most able Indian warrior and leader whom the 
people of this country have had to fight. By his foes his 
character has been painted in the darkest colors. It was not 
in their nature to be magnanimous to a fallen enemy who had 
inflicted upon them such terrible calamities. A " damnable 
wretch," a " hellish monster," a "• bloody villain," are the 
epithets which our pious ancestors delighted to bestow upon 
him, and even the generous Church, in describing his capture, 
calls him a " doleful, great, dirty beast." But, as the mists 
of passion have rolled away, the character of the departed 
chieftain has been rising in the estimation of mankind. We 
see in him the patriot, brooding over the wrongs which were 
daily inflicted upon his race, and rising, at last, in righteous 
indignation to take vengeance upon its insolent and grasping 
oppressors. Deeds of blood he undoubtedly committed, de- 
vastation and death ever marked the path of Indian warfare, 
but no vengeance so inhuman as the burning of the old men, 
the women and the children, in the wigwams of the Narra- 
gansett swamp, ever sullied his reputation, and his treatment 
of his English captives was always more generous than that 
which his foes accorded to him. For every deed of horror 
which is charged against the Indians by the historians of that 
time, a parallel can be found in those same pages where the 
writers exult, in glowing words, over the chastisements which 
they, as the chosen instruments of God, have been enabled to 
inflict upon their heathen enemies. Philip fought as his an- 
cestors had always fought, but the English met the atrocities 
which the Indians committed by an atrocity still more brutal, 
because contrary to all the principles of Christianity, which 
they ever professed to hold dear. 

At the close of the Indian war only six houses were left 



KING Philip's war. 49 

standing in Swanscy, and the whole neighborhood, swept again 
and again as it had been by fire and sword, was more 
desolate than when the English first landed at Plymouth. 
Even the wigwams of the aborigines had disappeared ; tlieir 
occupants had either perished by the merciless weapons of 
their Christian foes, or been sold into a slavery which was to 
them more horrible than death. The stern decree of the 
victors hurried to execution all the chiefs who had surren- 
dered. Only the most insignificant of the captives were 
spared. Captain Church alone seemed to feel some pity 
toward his vanquished adversaries, but his merciful counsels 
were disregarded by the men who had taken no part in actual 
warfare, and had only looked upon the battle from afar. The 
ministers,* to whom Avas referred the question as to what 
disposition should be made of Philip's son, an interesting 
boy nine years old, decided tliat the sins of the father should 
be visited upon the child, and recommended death. Tiie boy 
however, was not killed. He was taken from the cool and 
verdant shores of the Narragansett and shipped as a slave to 
the Islands of Bermuda, there to die upon the white cliffs, 
under the fierce rays of the semi-tropical sun. 

The following is Captain Church's own account of the 
slaying of Philip : — 

" Captain Church, being now at Plymouth again, weary and worn, 
would have gone home to his wife and family, but the government being 
solicitous to engage him in the service until Philip was slain, and pro- 
mising him satisfaction and redress for some mistreatment he had met 
with, he fixes for another expedition. 

" He had soon volunteers enough to make up the company he desired, 
and marched througli the woods until he came to Pocasset. And not 
seeing or hearing any of the enemy, they went over the ferry to Khode 
Island, to refresh themselves. The Captain, with about half a dozen in 
his company, took horses and rode about eight miles down the Island, 
to Mr. Sanford's, where he had left his wife. She no sooner saw him, 
but fainted with surprise, and by the time she was a little revived they 
spied two horsemen coming a great pace. Captain Church told his 
company that ' Those men (by their riding) come with tidings.' When 
they came up, they proved to be Major Sanford and Captain Golding. 
They immediately asked Captain Church what he would give to hear 



Samuel Arnold of Marshfifkl and .Tohn Cotton of Plymouth. 
i 



50 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

some news of Philip ? He replied, that was what he wanted. They 
told him they had rode hard with some hopes of overtaking him, and 
were now come on purpose to inform him that there were just now 
tidings from Mount Hope. An Indian came down from thence (Avhere 
Philip's camp now was) to Sandy Point, over against Trip's, and hal- 
looed, and made signs to be fetched over. And being fetched over he 
rejjorted, that he was fled from Philip, 'who (said he) has killed my 
brother just before I came away, for giving some advice that displeased 
him.' And said, that he was fled for fear of meeting with the same his 
brother had met with. Told them also, that Philip was now in Mount 
Hope Neck. Captain Church thanked them for their good news, and 
said he hoped by to-morrow morning to have the rogue's head. 3 he 
horses that he and his company came on, standing at the door (for they 
had not been unsaddled], his wife must content herself with a short 
visit when such game was ahead. They immediately mounted, set spurs 
to their horses, and away. 

"The two gentlemen that brought him the tidings told him they 
would gladly wait on him to see the event of the expedition. He 
thanked them, and told them he should be as fond of their company as 
any men's; and (in short) they went with him. And .they were soon at 
Trip's ferry (with Captain Church's company), where the deserter was. 
He was a fellow of good sense and told his story handsomely. He 
offered Captain Church to pilot him to Philip and help to kill him, that 
he might revenge his brother's death. Told him that Philip was now 
upon a little spot of upland that was in the south end of the miry 
swamp, just at the foot of the mount, which was a spot of ground that 
Captain ('hurch was well acquainted with. 

" By that time they were over the ferry and come near the ground 
half the night was spent. The Captain commands a halt, and bringing 
the company together, he asked Major Sanford's and Captain Golding's 
advice, what method it was best to take in making the onset; but they 
declined giving him any advice, telling him that his great experience 
and success forbid their taking upon them to give advice. Then Cap- 
tain Church offered Captain Golding the honor (if he Mould please 
accept of it), to beat up Philip's headquarters. He accepted the offer, 
and had his allotted number drawn out to him, and the pilot. Captain 
Church's instructions to him were, to be very careful in his approach to 
the enemy, and be sure not to show himself, until by daylight they might 
see and discern their own men from the enemy; told him also, that his 
custom in like cases was to creep with his company on their bellies 
until they came as near as they could ; and that as soon as the enemy 
discovered them they would cry out, and that was the word for his men 
to fire and fall on. He directed him that when the enemy should start 
and take into the swamp, they should pui-sue with speed, every man 
shouting and making what noise he could; for he would give orders to 
his ambuscade to fire on any that should come silently. 

" Captain Church, knowing that it was Philip's custom to be foremost 
in the flight, went down to the swamp, and gave Captain Williams of Scit- 



KING Philip's avar. 5i 

uate, the command of the right wing of the ambush, and placed an Eng- 
lishman and an Indian together beliind such shelters of trees, etc., as he 
could find, and took care to place them at such distance, that none might 
pass undiscovered between them; charged them to be careful of them- 
selves and of hurting their friends, and to fire at any that should come 
silently through the swamp. But it being somewhat farther through 
the swamp than he was aware of, he wanted men to make up his am- 
buscade. 

" Having placed what men he had, he took Major Sanford by the hand 
and said, ' iSir, I have so placed them that it is scarce possible Philip should 
escape them.' The same moment a shot whistled over their heads, and 
then the noise of a gun towards Philii^'s camp. Captain Cliurch at first 
thought it might be some gun fired by accident; but before he could 
speak, a whole volley followed, which was earlier than he expected. 
One of Philip's gang going forth, looked around him, and Captain Gold- 
ing thought ihe Indian looked right at him (though probably it was bu^ 
liis conceit), so fired at him: and upon this firing, the whole company 
that were with him fired upon the enemy's shelter, before the Indians 
had time to rise from their sleep, and so overshot them. P>ut their shelter 
was open on that side next the swamp, built so on purpose for the 
convenience of flight on occasion. They were soon in the swamp, and 
Philip the foremost, who starting at the first gun, threw his petunk and 
powderhorn over his head, catched up his gun, and ran as fast as he 
could scamper, without any more clothes than his small breeches and 
stockings ; and ran directly on two of Captain Church's ambush. They 
let him come fair within shot, and the Englishman's gun missing fire, 
he bid the Indian fire away, and he did so to purjiose ; sent one musket 
bullet through his heart, and another not above two inches from it. He 
fell upon his face in the mud and water, with his gun under him. 

" By this time the enemy perceived that they were waylaid on the east 
side of the swamp and tacked short aboiit. One of the enemy, who 
seemed to be a great, surly old fellow, hallooed with a loud voice and 
often called out ' lootash, lootash.' Captain Church called to his Indian, 
Peter, and asked him who that was that called so? He answered that 
it was old Annawon, Philip's great Captain; calling on his soldiers to 
stand to it, and fight stoutly. Now the enemy finding that place of the 
swamp which was not ambushed, many of them made their escape in the 
English tracks. 

"The man that had shot down Philip ran with all speed to Captain 
Church, and informed him of his exploit, who commanded him to be 
silent about it and let no man more know it, until they had driven the 
swamp clean. But when they had driven the swamp through, and found 
the enemy had escaped, or at least the most of them, and the sun now 
up and so the dew gone, that they could not easily track them, the w hole 
company met together at the place where the enemy's night shelter was, 
and then Captain Church gave them the news of Philip's death. Upon 
which the whole army gave three loud huzzas. 

" Captain Church orderd his body to be pulled out of the mire to the 



52 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

upland. So some of Captain Church's Indians took hokl of him by 
his stockings and some by his small breeches (being otherwise naked), 
and drew him througli tlie mud to the upland ; and a doleful, great, 
naked, dirty beast he looked like. Captain Church then said that foras- 
much as he had caused many an Englishman's body to be uuburied, and 
to rot above ground, that not one of his bones should be buried. And, 
calling his old Indian executioner, bid him behead and quarter him. 
Accordingly he came with his hatchet and stood over him, but before 
he struck he made a small speech, directing it to Philip, ' he had been a 
very great man, and had made many a man afraid of him, but so big as 
he was, he would now chop him in pieces.' And so he went to work and 
did as he was ordered. 

"Philip having one very remarkable hand, being much scarred, occa- 
sioned by the splitting of a pistol in it formerly. Captain Church gave 
the head and that hand to Alderman,* the Indian who shot him, to 
show to such gentlemen as would bestow gratuities upon him ; and 
accordingly he got many a penny by it. 

''This being on the last day of the week, the Captain with his com- 
pany returned to the island, tarried there until Tuesday, and then went 
off and ranged through all the woods to Plymouth, and received their 
premium, which was thirty shillings per head for the enemies which 
they had killed or taken, instead of all wages; and Philip's head went 
at the same price. JNIethinks it is scanty reward and poor encourage- 
ment; though it was better than it had been some time before. For 
this march they received /'oitr sJiillings and six pence a man, which was 
all the I'eward they had except the honor of killing Philip." 

* The same Indian whose brother Philip had liilled, and who had informed the 
English where Philip was. 



Chapter vii. 



THE QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP AND JOHN CROWNE. 

The fertile lands of Mount Hope having fallen into the 
hands of the English by right of conquest, a dispute at once 
arose among the neighboring colonies as to their ownership. 
They had, without doubt, been included in the territory orig- 
inally granted to Plymouth Colony, but the prize was too 
tempting to be relinquished without a struggle by the modest 
settlers of Massachusetts Bay, and Rhode Island also brought 
forward a claim to a share in the spoils. The matter was at 
once placed before King Charles II., by the agents of the sev- 
eral colonies, and the question was fully discussed in the 
Privy Council. 

To make affairs still more complicated a new claimant ap- 
peared, and pushed his cause with such energy and shrewd- 
ness, that the conquered territory had almost fallen into his 

hands. 

John (Jrowne was a native of Nova Scotia, who had gone to 
England in order to acquire fame and independence by the 
powers of his mind. His reception in that country was not 
favorable, and he was for a time an upper servant in an old 
lady's family. From this position he soon extricated himself 
by the wit and the excellence of his literary compositions, 
and found means to bring himself to tlie notice of the (lueen. 
At the request of Rochester he wrote tlie " Masipie of Calypso," 
which was i)erformed before the Court and gained him the 
favor of the Merry Monarch. His works comprise seventeen 



54 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

plays and several poems, his most important play being- the 
" Comedy of Sir Courtly Nice." This play was written after 
the Mount Hope matter had been decided, and if successful 
was to secure for its author a place which would make him 
independent for life; but on the last day of rehearsal, and 
before the comedy could be acted, the king died, and all the 
hopes of the poet were blasted. 

In 1656 William Crowne, the father of the poet, had pur- 
chased a large tract of land in Nova Scotia, which had been 
originally granted to Sir Wm. Alexander, Secretary of State 
for Scotland. By the subsequent cession of the territory to 
the French, the value of the purchase was almost wholly de- 
stroyed. In 1679 John Crowne presented a petition to the 
king in liehalf of his father, stating that in consequence of 
the delivery of that country to the French, " the petitioner 
and his family have sustained almost utter ruin, and for which 
they have never presumed to ask any compensation. But now 
there happening to be in Your Majesty's disposal a small tract 
of land in New England, called Mount Hope, lately in pos- 
session of certain Indians destroyed in war by Your Majesty's 
subjects, which at present remains desolate and uninhabited, 
the petitioner humbly prays that Your Majesty will bestow said 
small tract upon him, for the support of his parents and family, 
although the value of the said land is in no way equivalent to 
the damage sustained." 

This petition was, on the twenty-fourth day of January, 
1679, referred by the Council to the Committee on Trade and 
Plantations. Randall Holden and John Greene, the agents 
for Rhode Island, happened to be in London at the time, and 
to them the committee at once applied for information con- 
cerning the tract under discussion. The agents were asked 
to answer three questions. " 1. What is the extent of the 
lands of Mount Hope Bay in length and breadth ? 2. What 
is the value of these lands at present ? 3. Whether there be 
any claim of propriety to said lands, made by any of the neigh- 
boring corporations, or the inhabitants thereof ? " To these 
questions Holden and Greene made answer as follows, the 



QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP AND JOHN CROWNE. 55 

reply to question tlirce having evidently been made to suit the 
claim which their colony had set up : — 

"1. The extent of land is not much, it being a neck of land 
abutting upon the sea, and lying between the colonies of Rhode 
Island and Plymouth, containing about four thousand acres. 

2, The value we conceive to be about four thousand pounds. 
It is at present uninhaljitcd. 

3. We conceive the propriety of these lands to be in His 
Majesty, and that no corporation in New England hath any 
right thereunto. It did lately belong to the Hachem Philip, 
and was inhabited by him and his subjects, who are now 
wholly destroyed by the late Indian war ; and although some 
of the neighboring colonies would pretend aright by conquest, 
yet we conceive none can have a real title thereto but from 
His Majesty, who is the sovereign lord of all that country." 

The committee also made other inquiries, and on the sixth 
of February reported : " That the neck of land called Mount 
Hope, in New England, may contain not above five or six 
thousand acres ; that we cannot acquaint your lordships with 
the value of said tract, as there is no common rule in New 
England for setting price on lands. But in general we know 
that whereas the soil of the country is mostly very i)oor and 
barren, this neck of land is accounted one of the best 
parts thereof." The committee took occasion delicately to 
remind the king, *' as on behalf of the New Plymouth colony, 
so also of the other colonies, that there are no lands lying 
among them that are not clearly contained and fully conveyed 
in and by the charters already granted to those, His Majesty's 
colonies respectively ; " they also still more effectually disposed 
of Crowne's petition by exi)ressing a belief that the land 
would be " disposed of to particular persons before any notice 
of Mr. Crowne's petition to Your Majesty will arrive there." 

The Council advised that letters be sent to the colonies of 
Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
asking for information concerning the lands, and also for the 
grounds on which their respective claims to ownership were 
based. In its answer the General Court of Plymouth said : — 



56 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

"Tlie lands of Mount Hope did belong to Sacliem Philip, 
the grand rebel to Your Majesty, and first and principal dis- 
turber of the peace of these, your colonies, and are clearly and 
unquestionably within the Patent Grant made by your Royal 
predecessors to this, your most ancient Colony of New Ply- 
mouth (within which none might purchase or any way obtain 
lands of the natives, but ourselves, or such as the authority 
of this colony allowed), and these lands, with some others, 
were conquered by the joint forces of your subjects of the Mas- 
sachusetts, Connecticut and Xew Plymouth, by the expense of 
more tlian one hundred thousand pounds, besides an inesti- 
mable damage sustained by particular plantations and persons, 
and Avhich was yet of greater value, by the loss of the lives of 
many hundreds of our brethren, children, and choice friends. 
The profits of the war (excepting a few prisoners taken in the 
latter end thereof) was only land, and this colony having 
borne their full proportion, both in forces and charge, and 
being the seat of the war, suffered more in proportion than 
any had ; Mount Hope, with a small ragged neck of land more 
adjoining to it for our part of profit, by agreement of the Con- 
federate Colonies, we allowing tliem XI, 000, because our 
lands were judged more valuable than theirs, and Mount Hope 
with its appurtenances, by far the better part of all our con- 
quest lands, we have put to sale for £3,000, but have not yet 
found our cliapmen. The quantity of Mount Hc^pe we estimate 
to be 7,000 acres at the most ; part of it good soil, and much 
of it rocky, mountainous and barren. But that which com- 
mends it, and causes us highly to esteem it, and earnestly to 
beg that by Your Majesty's justice and favor we may enjoy 
and not be deprived of it, is not only because we have fought 
for it and paid for it, and many of us bled for it, but because 
this colony, for want of good harbors, could never yet make any 
considerable improvement of the sea ; but tliese places are 
well accommodated for the settlement of a seaport town or 
two ; whereby we hope we may, in a few years, be more ser- 
viceable to Your Majesty, and live more happily." 

The argument of the Plymouth men seemed conclusive, and 



QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP AND JOHN CROWNE. 57 

the committee recommended to the Council that tlic title to 
the lands should be fully confirmed to the Plymouth Colony, 
a quit rent of seven beaver skins, or in default, fourteen marks 
annually upon the estimated seven thousand acres being 
reserved to the king. This was done Dec. 4, 1679 and on 
the twelfth day of January, 1680, the king, by special grant, 
conferred the lands upon the Plymouth Colony. 



Chapter viii. 



GRANT OF MOUXT HOPE TO PLYMOUTH COLONY. 

No royal grant was made of the other lands conquered from 
tlie Indians, tlie colony succeeding to them by right of con- 
quest. This special grant was made in consequence of the 
ditterent claims. 

"Charles R. Trusty and well beloved. We greet you well' HavP 
With great Satisfaction read your Letter bearing D^te firit of "^y laft In 

c" :r:. ':r:T/-- - «- -^^^ «^ ^^^^-y, ibts-o, togetiie^witV" 



Copies of other Letters from you unto us dated the 12th of June 1677 

ZTT%" ^T''""' '' '''' ^"^'^^^^ ^'1"«'^ J'- -"^ other of ou; l.od 
o" H ,tfr.^'^^! had a,ai,3t the Rebellious Enemy, and the t^tal 



overthrow given unto that Common Ene^; .Id t^::^^ P^^ ,. ^^^ 
been particularly examined by the Lords of our Privy Coun H appoin ef 
bl'r^eT": '' ^"'""'^ Plantations, and their'opinion tKup ' 
Rovall ?C Z T' "' '"' '""' ^^""°^^" ' W^ ''^'^ t'-ken into our 
Swat von 7" ; "? ""'^*^^^ yo-- Loyalty and good Conduct in 
that Wai, you have been happy Instruments to enlarge our Dominions 

and lerS AJ? ""^ ^''''r ^^ '^^^"^'^^^^ unto ! more immeXte 
and perfect A legiance and Dependence on us! We are therefore gra- 

you the full and entire Propertie of the said Tract or Scope of Land 
commonly called Mount-hope, containing by . . . Seven Thot'and 
Acies, being more or less, for the sole and proper Use and Behoofe of 
yourselves and the rest of our said Colony of New Plymouth; to be 
lioldenof us, our Heirs and Successors, as of our Castle of Windsor 
in our County of Berks, in free and common Soccage, yielding and pay- 
ing therefor to us our Heirs and Successors, as a Quit Rent and Acknowl 
edgement of this our Royall Donation, Seven Beaver Skins, to bee deliv- 
ered att our said Castle of Windsor every yeare on the Feast of St. John 
the Baptist or in Default thereof Fourteen i[arks, to bee paid into our 
Royall Exchequer; the said Payment to commence from the Day of the 
Date of these Presents; Saving, nevertheless, all such just Right and 



GRANT OF MOUNT HOPE TO PLYMOUTH COLONY 



59 



Title to the Premises, or any Part thereof, as any others of our jrood 
Subjects may lawfully have thereunto. 

••And Whereas Wee are given to understand that our said Colony of 
Xew Plymouth was the most antient of all the rest within that our 
Dominion of New England, and hapned to bee settled by so much 
casualty as that you have only a general Grant from the old Councill of 
Plymouth, and that there are wanting severall necessary Provisions for 
your Incorporation, which are esteemed fit for the confirming of your 
Peace and Happinesse, and the giving you a nearer dependence and pro- 
tection from the Crown ; for these Considerations therefore, and in regard 
of the many Instances of your Loyalty, as well ancient as what hath 
been by you lately exprest. We further graciously promise and declare 
our Royal Intentions to confer upon our said Colony of New Plymouth 
our Royal Charter that may containe all such Priviledges, Rights and 
Franchises for your good Government and Advantage, as shall by you 
upon due application be reasonably desired, and by us thought fitt 
And so wee bid you Farewell. From our Court att Whitehall, this 12th 
Day of January, in the One and Thirtieth year of our Reign. 

" By his Maj"'^s Command 

"H. Coventry." 

(Address.) "To Our Trusty and well beloved Josiah Winslow, Es- 
(luire Go\^rnor, and to the General Court of our Colony of New Ply- 
mouth, within our Dominion of New England, and to our Governor and 
Generall Court thereof for the time being." 



Chapter ix. 



THE GRAND DEED. 

The title having thus been confirmed by royal grant, the 
General Court of Plymouth at once appointed a committee 
to sell the newly acquired territory. This committee was 
not 'long in finding purchasers. The grant was made by 
King Charles, on the 12th of January, 1680, in his Court 
at Whitehall ; and on the fourteenth day of September, 1680, 
at Plymouth, Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley, and Wil- 
liam Bradford, three' of the committee, conveyed them by the 
following deed to John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Stephen 
Burton, and Nathaniel Oliver, for the sum of X 1,100, current 
money of New England : — 

" This indenture made the fourteenth day of September, Anno Domini 
One Thousand Six hundred and Eighty, and in the thirty second year 
of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second, over Eng- 
land &c., Between Josiah Winslow Esq', Governor of his Majestie's 
Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Thomas Hinckley Esqr, 
Deputy Governor, William Bradford Esq'', Treasurer — all of the afore- 
said Colony, on the one part; and John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, 
Nathaniel Byfield & Stephen Burton, all of Boston, in the Colony of the 
Massachusetts in New England aforesaid. Merchants on the other part — 
Witnesseth, that Whereas the said Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley, 
William Bradford and James Cudworth Esq'", were nominated elected 
and chosen by the Honorable General Court held at Plymouth (or any 
two of them) as a Committee to Consider of, treat about and finally 
to determine all matters and things respecting, or any ways relating 
to the Lands sometime pertaining to the Indians, late inhabiting the 
Colony aforesaid by Conquest, and also to sell, alienate, enfeoff and 
confirm the same Lands to such person or persons, and for such sum 
and sums of money, and with such liberties, privileges, benefits and 



THE (I RAND DEED. 61 

immunities as to tliem shall seem most meet, as by the order of the 
said Court more fully may appear. 

" Now be it known unto all men by these presents, that the said Josiah 
Winslow, Thomas Hinckley & W^illiam Bradford, by virtue of power 
granted unto them as aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of 
Eleven Hundred Pounds of current money of New England to them in 
hand, at and before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, by 
the said John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield and Stephen 
Burton, well and timely paid, the receipt whereof they do hereby 
acknowledge, and themselves in behalf of the said Court and their 
successors to be fully satisfied and contented, and thereof, and of every 
part and parcel thereof, do in the name and in behalf of the said Colony, 
acquit, exonerate and discharge the said John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, 
Nathaniel Byfield, and Stephen Burton, their heirs, executors, adminis- 
trators & assigns, and each and every one of them by these presents, 
have given, granted, bargained and sold, aliened, enfeoffed and con- 
firmed; and by these presents do fully, freely, clearly & absolutely 
give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff & confirm unto the said John 
Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield & Stephen Burton, and to 
their heirs and assigns forever — all that tract or parcel of land, situate, 
lying <fe being within the aforesaid Colony of New Plymouth, com- 
monly called and known by the name of Mount Hope Neck A Foppa- 
squash Neck, with all the Islands lying near, or about the same Necks, 
not exceeding five acres and not already legally disposed of. And also 
all and singular the Land pastures, meadows, feedings, marshes, 
swamps, ways, easements, Creeks, Coves, harbors, mines, stones, 
beaches, flats, fishings, fowlings, woods, underwoods, Trees, bushes, 
fences, profits, privileges, rights, commodities, hereditaments, emolu- 
ments & appurtenances whatsoever, growing, standing, lying, being, 
arising or issuing forth, in, upon, or out of the premises or any part or 
parcel thereof — or to the same, or any part or parcel thereof belonging 
or in any wise appertaining (Excepting only and reserving the Lands 
formerly granted to the Inhabitants of Swansey, according to the Lines 
already run at the north end or entrance of said Neck, and also the 
One hundred acres of Land now belonging unto the Family of the 
Gorham's, and the Meadows formerly purchased of the Indians, and 
his Majesty's part of Koyal mines — together with all deeds, writings, 
Court orders, evidences, grants and Miniments whatsoever, touching or 
concerning the premises or any part or parcel thereof. 

" And the said Josiali Winslow, Thomas Hinckley, and William Brad- 
ford, for themselves in the name and behalf of the said Court and 
Freemen of the said Colony and their successors do hereby covenant, 
promise and grant to and with the said John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, 
Nathaniel Byfield and Stephen Burton and their heirs & assigns for- 
ever, in manner and form following (that is to .say) that they the said 
Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley and William Bradford, or some or 
one of them, shall and will within the time & space of twelve months, 
next after the date hereof, cause good and sufiicient highways to be laid 



(62 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

out from all the adjacent towns unto the said Mount Hope Neck, within 
the said Colony for the country's use. And further, that the said John 
Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield, and Stephen Burton, and 
all such other person or persons as shall inhabit the said Neck or Necks 
of land, shall be free and clear from all ordinary and common country 
rates frojn or by the said Colony, from the first day of April next 
ensuing the day of the date hereof, unto the full end and term of seven 
years from thence next ensuing, and fully to be complete and ended. 
And also that all the inhabitants of the said Mount Hope Neck shall, 
from time to time and at all times forever hereafter be free and clear 
from all customs, payments, excise and impositions whatsoever from or 
by the said Colony, and authority by them there established; for, upon 
or by reason of any goods, wares or merchandise whatsoever, that shall 
be imported or exported to or from the said Necks, or any part thereof, 
or for entering or clearing any ship or ships or other vessel or vessels 
whatsoever, for coming into, lying in or going out of the Harbor or 
Harbors belonging to the said Neck, or to or from any person or persons 
inhabiting the said Neck. 

" And further — that the said John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel 
Byfield and Stephen Burton and their heirs and assigns forever, shall 
have, possess and enjoy the whole and sole benefit, privilege and ad- 
vantage of each and every ye Ferries that shall be and be made within 
the precincts of the said Necks for the passing and repassing to and 
from the said Necks with whatever other benefits they shall make of the 
aforementioned premises or any part or parcel thereof. And that the 
Inhabitants of the said Necks shall have liberty, and hereby have full 
and free liberty from time to time, and at all times forever hereafter, to 
send Deputies to the General Court of the said Colony according to the 
number of Freemen, who shall have free liberties to act there as the 
Deputies of other Towns in the said Colony. And also that the Inhabi- 
tants of the said Necks shall have, and hereby have liberty annually to 
choose from amongst themselves. Commissioners who shall be fully 
empowered to keep a Commissioner's Court on the said Neck, for the 
Trial and determination of all actions and causes under ten pounds, 
which shall be brought unto the said Court (always allowing liberty of 
appeals unto the Court of New Plymouth aforesa'd). And further, that 
when there shall be settled upon the Neck of Mount Hope the full 
number of Sixty Families that then that part of the Colony shall be a 
County, and there shall be liberty granted unto them to keep a County 
Court on the said Neck, and all Actions arising within the same to be 
tried there. And that the Town that shall be built on the said Neck 
shall be the County or Shire town. And all meadovys lying adjoining 
to the said Neck shall belong to that township, saving the propriety 
thereof to the respective owners of the same. And also that no man's 
private interest of little or small value shall hinder the public good of 
the Plantation that shall be settled upon the said Neck, particularly for 
the setting up of Mills, or making of Mill ponds, or other public con- 
cerns whatsoever, as the Court shall think fit, the aforesaid purchasers of 



THE GRAND DEED. 63 

the said Neck, giving such satisfaction to the owners of said Land that 
shall be improved for the public benefit, as shall be agreed upon by the 
parties concerned, or as the General Court for New Plymouth aforesaid 
shall judge meet and reasonable. And also all the estate, right, title 
and interest, use, possession, claim, jjroperty and demands whatsoever 
of them the said Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley, William Bradford 
and James Cudworth as a committee chosen by the said Court as afore- 
said, or of the said Colony, or any that are or shall be in authority here, 
in or to the said lands, liberties, privileges and immunities, or any other 
the above mentioned premises, or any part or parcel thereof {excepting- 
only as before excepted) To have and to hold the said Tract or parcel 
of land commonly called and known by the name of Mount Hoi)e Neck 
and Poppasquash Neck, (reserving only as before reserved) with all 
the Islands lying near or about the said Necks, not exceeding five acres 
and not already disposed of, with all and singular the Lands, pastures, 
meadows, feedings, marshes, swamps, ways, easements, creeks, coves, 
harbors, mines, stones, beaches, flats, fishings, fowlings, woods, under- 
woods, trees, bushes, fences, profits, priviledges, rights, commodities, 
hereditaments, emoluments and appurtenances whatsoever, growing, 
standing, lying, being, arising or issuing forth in, upon or out of the 
premises or any part or parcel thereof, or to the same or any i^art or 
parcel thereof belonging or in anywise apjiertaining hereby granted, 
bargained & sold, or meant, mentioned or intended to be herein or 
hereby granted, bargained & sold, with their and each and every of 
their rights, members and ai^purtenances whatsoever unto the said 
John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield & Stephen Burton, 
and their heirs and assigns forever, in as full, large, ample and beneficial 
manner and form whatsoever, as the said Colony hath, may or might 
have and enjoy the same. And to the only, sole and proper use, benefit 
and behoofs of the said John Walley, Nath' Oliver, Nath' Byfield & 
Stephen Burton and their heirs and assigns forever. And the said 
Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley & William Bradford, in the name 
and behalf of the said General Court and their successors & Inhabi- 
tants of said Colony do hereby covenant, promise and grant to and with 
the said John Walley, Nath' Oliver, Nath' Byfield & Stephen Burton, 
their heirs and assigns in manner and form following (that is to say, 
that they the .said John Walley, Nath' Oliver, Nath' Byfield & Stephen 
Burton and their heirs and assigns forever, shall and may by force and 
virtue of these presents, from time to time, and at all times forever 
hereafter, lawfully, peaceably and quietly have, hold, use, occupy, pos- 
sess and enjoy the above granted premises, with their appurtenances 
and every part and jjarcel thereof, with all the liberties, priviledges, and 
immunities aforementioned, Free and clear and clearly acquitted & 
discharged of and from all, and all manner of former and other gifts, 
grants, bargains and sales, leases, mortgages, jointures, judgments, 
executions, entailes, forfeitures, and of and from all other titles, 
troubles, charges, and incumbrances whatsoever had made, committed, 
done, or (had made committed) or to be done by them, the said Josiah 



64 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Winslow, Thomas Hinckley, and William Bradford, or either of them, 
or by any other person or persons by authority granted by the said 
Court of Xew Plymouth, at any time, or times, before the ensealing 
hereof (excepting only as before excepted) 

"And Further, that the said Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley and 
William Bradford, in the name and behalf of the said General Court 
do further covenant, that they shall and will from time to time, and at 
all times forever hereafter Warrant and defend the above granted 
premises and each and every part and parcel thereof with the liberties, 
privileges, rights, immunities and appurtenances above mentioned, in 
Manner and form aforesaid, unto the said John Walley, Nathaniel 
Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield and Stephen Burton, and to their heirs and 
assigns forever against all and every person and persons whatsoever 
anyways lawfully claiming or demanding the same or any part thereof. 

And Lastly, that they, the said Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley 
and William Bradford, shall and will cause this present Deed of Sale 
and grant of the several liberties, privileges and immvinities above 
mentioned to be ratified and confirmed by the next General Court to be 
holden at Plymouth aforesaid; and do and perform all such further 
and lawful Act and Acts, thing and things whatsoever for the better 
confirmation, and Sure making of the premises unto the said John 
Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield and Stephen Burton, their 
heirs or assigns. In Witness whereof, the said Josiah Winslow, Thomas 
Hinckley and William Bradford have hereunto set their hands and 
seals the day and year first above written 

Josiah Winslow Thomas Hinckley William Bradford 

(and a seal) (and a seal) (and a seal) 

" Signed, Sealed and delivered by the within named Josiah Winslow 
and Thomas Hinckley, on the day of the date within written in the 

presence of us 

John Hayward Sert 
Eliezek Moody Ser"^ 
Anthony Eames 

" Signed, Sealed and delivered by the within named William Bradford 
on the 29''^ of September 1680 in the presence of us 

John Freeman 
James B. 

" The within named Josiah Winslow, Thomas Hinckley and William 
Bradford came before us y<^ 29"^ day of September 1680 and did acknowl- 
edge they had passed this deed in the behalf of the Colony of New 
Plymouth, as their Committee thereunto instructed 

John Alden i 

JAMES CuDW0RTh}^«^*'^^«"^«-" 




Nathaniel Byfield. 



Chapter x. 



NATHANIEL BYFIELD. 

Of the four Boston merchants into whose possession tlie fair 
patrimony of the dead Philip had come, Nathaniel Bjfield 
was by far the most able and the most distinguished. His 
family was one of note and influence in England. Rev. Rich- 
ard Bylield, his father, was for a long time the pastor of Long 
Ditton, in Surrey, England, and was one of the Westminster 
Assembly of Divines. His mother was sister of that Juxon 
who was Bishop of London, High Treasurer of England under 
Charles I., and who, a personal friend as well as priestly ad- 
viser, attended that unhappy king at the scaffold on the morn- 
ing of his execution. 

Xathaniel Byfield was the youngest of twenty-one children, 
and was born in 1653. Li 1674 he landed at Boston, and, 
liking the country, immediately resolved to settle in America. 
In 1675 he married Deborah Clarke,* and commenced busi- 
ness as a merchant in Boston. 

In his business career he was at once and always success- 
ful, and by the close of King Philip's War had accumulated 

* In the Plymouth Colony Records, the following petition, bearing date of Sept. 
25. 1676, appears: "The Petition of Nathaniel Bytield humbly showeth that your 
Petitioner is a stranger in the ( 'ountry and lately married, and is now pressed to goe 
out to warre against the Indians. And whereas the Law of God is jdain, 24 Deuter- 
onomy ."), that where a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not goe to warre, neither 
shall he be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home one yeare, your 
Petitioner doth humbly request the favour of your honours to grant him the priv- 
iledge and beniflt of the said Law, and to grant him a discharge from the present 

service. 

So shall he pray for yoiu- honours 

Nathaniel Bvi-ield." 

5 



66 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

much property. His surplus wealth he invested in the 
purcliase of Mount Hope. When the town of Bristol Avas 
founded he became one of its settlers, and established his 
residence on the peninsula of Poppasquash,* most of which 
he owned. His dwelling-house stood near the spot wliere the 
residence of Deacon William Manchester now stands. Not 
far from tliis place may still l)e seen the remains of a tomb 
wherein lie buried those of his family who died during his 
residence in Bristol. He also owned another and better 
house on Byfield Street, of wiiich an account will be given in 
a subsequent chapter, 

Mr. Byfield's wife, Deborah, died in 1717. To them were 
born five children : three of these died in youth ; one daugh- 
ter became the wife of Lieutenant-Governor Taylor, of Mas- 
sachusetts, and died without issue ; another was married to 
Edward Lyde, Esq., and her descendants to-day hold honor- 
able positions in New England. In 1718 he married Sarah 
Leverett, the youngest daughter of Governor Leverett, whom 
he also outlived. Mrs. Sarah Byfield died in Boston, Dec. 21, 
1730, leaving no children ; she was buried in the " Granary 
Burial Ground," near Park Street Church, where her hus- 
band's remains were afterwards placed by her side. 

Nathaniel Byfield was for forty-four years a citizen of Bris- 
tol, and ever exercised a commanding influence in its affairs. 
In the Colony of Plymouth he also took a leading part, and 
when it was divided into counties he was made chief judge 
of the court established in the new county, his associates 
being Benjamin Church and John Brown of Svvansey. He 
was five times a delegate from Bristol to the General Court 
during his residence in the Mount Hope Lands, and was three 
times afterward a delegate to the General Court from Boston. 
Several times he was elected speaker of that honorable body. 
" For 38 years he was Chief Justice in the Court of General 

* This name, Poppasquash, like all Indian names, has been spelled in many 
ways. In various books and deeds we find Poppasquash, Pappasquash, Pappoose- 
squaw, Pappasqua, and Pojipy-Squash. The weight of authority seems to be in 
favor of the first form. Respecting its derivation no satisfactory informatioo 
can be given. 



NATHANIEL BYFIELD. 67 

Sessions of the Peace and Common Pleas for the County of 
Bristol." * For two years afterwards he also held the same 
office in the County of Suffolk. He received five commis- 
sions as Judge of Admiralty, from three different sovereigns : 
from King William in 1697, Queen Anne in 1702-3 and 1709, 
and from George 11. in 1728. During his long term of 
service none of his decisions were reversed by a superior 
court. At the same time he held the three offices of Judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas for Bristol County, Judge of 
Probate for Bristol County, and Judge of Admiralty for the 
Province of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire and Rhode 
Island. For many years, also, he was one of His Majesty's 
Council for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. In 1689 
Mr. Byficld wrote an account of the proceedings against Sii 
Edmund Andros and the Revolution in New England, which 
was ])ublished in England that same year. The union of the 
colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay involved him 
in political controversies in which he l)ecame greatly distin- 
guished and made himself one of the most conspicuous char- 
acters in the new province. 

Mr. Byfield was tall and of imposing presence ; his very 
looks inspired confidence and respect; he possessed a fine 
voice, and was a ready, easy speaker. Like all public men, 
his motives were grossly misrepresented, and for his career 
outside the limits of his adopted town, we have to rely mainly 
upon the records left by his political enemies. Mr. Francis 
Baylies, in his History of Plymouth, concedes his great 
abilities, and gives the following notice of his career, evi- 
dently much biased by personal prejudice : — 

''As Colonel Byfield may be considered the principal 
founder of Bristol, some further particulars of his life and 
character may not be una])propriate to this work, although 
not particularly connected with the exclusive history of 
Plymouth. 

" The character of the early population of Massachusetts 
exhibited strong and peculiar traits ; even their virtues were 

* Lane's Manual of First Church in Bristol. 



68 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

carried to such extremes that they seemed to have had some 
alliance to resembling vices ; sometimes their courage degen- 
erated into I'ashness, their firmness into obstinacy, their pat- 
riotism into factiousness, and their hatred of heresy and false 
religion into cruel and atrocious bigotry. In the course of 
nearly a century and a half, the history of Massachusetts 
presents two remarkalile epochs, during which the character 
of the people was unchanged, but the objects of excitement 
were very different. 

" From the settlement of the colony, in 1630, to the issu- 
ing of the quo tvarranto, in the latter part of the reign of 
Charles 11. , their burning spirits flamed out in polemical and 
religious controversies of the most violent and vindictive 
character, terminating generally in the banishment of the 
defeated party, and exercising its savage bigotry upon offend- 
ing individuals. This spirit became extinct when the civil 
rights were in danger, but from its ashes came forth another 
consuming fire, which was only extinguished by the blood of 
those convicted of witchcraft. The last ebullition of popular 
rage was only an interruption to the progress of political 
contentions, and the struggle for political rights, which, com- 
mencing with the loss of the charter, gave a new aspect to 
controversy, and wrought new channels for the passions ; 
and, although after this period much apprehension was ex- 
pressed that the Congregational relig-ion might be subjected 
to restraints and impositions, yet the real fear was that the 
Congregational part// might lose its political influence. 

" In this memorable controversy, two distinguished per- 
sons, both bearing the name of Elisha Cooke, father and son, 
wielded the fierce democracy of the province for half a 
century ; the first dared to dictate to royalty, and to say in 
the presence, ' the old charter or none.' Never was a contest 
conducted with more persevering resolution, or with a more 
fearless and determined spirit. In the House of Representa- 
tives, the unceasing dispute with the royal governors was 
conducted by the Cookes ; in their school those doctrines 
were taught, those habits of fearless investigation touching 



NATHANIEL BYFIELD. 69 

the supremacy of Parliament and the royal prerogative 
were acquired, and tliose principles digested and established 
which eventually produced an event which was scarcely con- 
templated ; this controversy for free principles endured for 
nearly a century, and its crisis was the Revolution. 

" It was the fortune of Colonel Byfield to have l)een accident- 
ally thrown into the struggle as the coadjutor of the Cookes, 
and as a champion of the democratic party, and to have 
wrought and suffered in a cause for which, perhaps, he felt 
but little attachment. But secondary men are always fash- 
ioned by circumstances, and follow in the paths which bolder 
spirits have opened. The Cookes contended for principles, 
Byfield for office ; the Cookes for popular rights, Byfield for 
revenge ; and yet they contended on the same side and suf- 
fered alike. Such is the composition of parties ; the loftiest 
motives are mingled with the basest ; the most disinterested 
patriotism Avith the most sordid selfishness ! 

" Colonel Byfield, much to his honor, resisted the insane 
fanaticism of the people during their delusion on the subject 
of witchcraft, and condemned the conduct of the Court with 
much severity. 

" In November, 1693, then being a representative in the 
General Court from Bristol, he was elected Speaker of the 
House, and so was the second speaker under the provincial 
charter. In 1696, 1697, and 1698, he was elected a repre- 
sentative from Boston. In 1698 he was again elected speaker, 
and he was often a counselor. Being a person of great 
enterprise and inordinate ambition, he commenced a course 
of political intrigue and opj)osition, to bring about his great 
end, which was to obtain the office of Governor of the 
Province. 

" He was no friend to Sir William Phipps, and was very 
much disliked by lucrease Mather, who exercised a powerful 
influence over the legislative bodies. 

" In 1702, Ijy the appointment of Governor Dudley, he suc- 
ceeded Mr. Saffin in the office of Judge of Probate for tlie 
County of Bristol, which he retained until 1710. 



70 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

" In 1703 he was appointed Judge of the Court of Ad- 
miralty, from wliich he was displaced in 1715. Having been 
harshly and injuriously reproved for some judicial proceed- 
ings, in open council, by Governor Dudley,* he conceived for 
him such an implacable dislike, that he determined to make 
a powerful effort to supplant him ; for this purpose he went 
to England in 1714. Dudley's influence had evidently de- 
clined, and he was tottering in his place. 

"The celebrated Jeremiali Dummer, the agent of Massa- 
chusetts, was then in London. In a letter to Dr. Coleman 
he gives a lively account of Col. 13yfield's conduct there : — 

" ' The second time (says he) that gentleman (Col. Byfield) 
and I met was at my chambers, where we soon came to a 
full understanding with each other with respect to the 
present governor. I told him that both my duty and my 
inclination led me to stand by his commission, with Avhat 
friends and what interest I could make ; and he replied that 
he would by the help of God get him turned out, and therein 
please God and all good men. Accordingly we have both 
been pretty diligent, but I think he is now a little out of 
breath. His age makes him impatient of the fatigues of 
application, and his frugality makes him sick of coach-hire, 
fees to officers and door-keepers, and other expenses ; so that 
I believe he now heartily wishes himself safe in his own 
government at Poppy-Squash. He is really an honest, 
worthy man, but he is so excessively hot against Colonel 
Dudley, that he cannot use any body civilly that is for him. 
In a conversation I had with him before Mr. Newman, he 
used me very unhandsomely. The argument was whether 
the General Assembly was for or against the governor. He 
said the latter, because they would not address for him ; 
to which I answered, my intelligence was, that Dr. No^^es 
opposed it upon the fact of its being a bad precedent which 
future governors might claim the advantage of, when they 
did not deserve it, and that thereupon the House rejected it. 



* His quarrel with Governor Dudley was about Nathaniel Blag-rove's adminis- 
tration of the estate of Nathan Hajman, one of the proprietors of Bristol. 



NATHANIEL BYFIELD. 71 

To this tlie Colonel in great indignation said, • Well, Sir ! 
then you say the whole House of Representatives are turned 
about by one man ? Take notice, Sir, that I shall go back 
again to New England.' Upon this, I told him his inference 
was so disengenuous, and the menace he added was so 
little like a gentleman, that I would never talk with him any 
more on that subject, which I have sti-ictly kept to, though 
we liave frequently met since.' 

"In another letter of Dummer's, to Mr. Flint, dated in 
1715, he says : — 

" ' What Colonel Byfield says of me, as well as of Sir 
William Ashhurst, is false ; and I can assure you, I found him 
out in a good many lies* while he was here, notwithstanding 
he is ever nauseously Ijoasting of his honesty. As for his 
honor's negativing me, he may do what he pleases, but I 
would have him consider that public 'places arc held by a 
very slight and uncertain tenure, and that it is ill policy in 
him to make any body his enemy.' 

" Byfield's interest was not sufficient to obtain the govern- 
ment, and it was bestowed on Colonel Shute, the brother of 
Lord Barrington ; he returned to New England, and being 
chosen a counselor in 1720, 1721, and 1722, was regularly 
negatived by Governor Shute, whose administration was 
disturbed by a more violent party contention than was ever 
known in Massachusetts. Shute left the govcrnmcjit in 1723, 
and Byfield was again negatived as a counselor by Lieut.- 
Governor Dummer. After that, he was chosen regularly, 
and served until 1729, when he was left out by the House, 
but V)eing in favor with Governor Burnett, he was again ap- 
pointed Judge of Admiralty, and on the accession of Gov- 
ernor Belcher, who was his relation, he was ajtpointed a 
judge of the County of Suffolk, to the exclusion of Colonel 
Dudley, the son of his old enemy." 

Of Mr. Byfield's course in Bristol, we have our own records 

* Respecting this matter Mr. Baylies further says, in another place : " The gross 
accusations of Jcremj- Dummer, that he was regardless of truth, ought to be 
taken with much allowance ; Dummer was his enemy, and had learned his morals 
in the school of Lord Bolingbrolie, whose tool for a time he was proud to be. 



72 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

to testify, and in them he always appears as an upright, pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, generous in his gifts to the town, an efficient 
friend and supporter of religion and education, as his frequent 
and liberal donations of land and money to advance the in- 
terests of both, bear witness. To him the town is chiefly 
indebted for the " school lands," whose rental has contributed 
so much to the education of its children. Undoubtedly he 
was soraehat overbearing and dictatorial in liis manner, — the 
commanding position which he held would serve to make him 
so ; he was also exceedingly fond of having his Own w^ay, — 
as who of us is not 't — and yet rarely do we see a public man 
whose influence was so uniformly exerted on the side of truth 
and justice. Fierce personal enemies he often made, and yet 
his most bitter enemies were forced oftentimes to admit his 
integrity of purpose, and his uprightness of spirit, and when, 
as in the case of his'quarrel with Judge Saffin, the decision 
of personal controversies was referred to unprejudiced arbi- 
trators, judgment was almost always rendered in his favor. 
That the town of Bristol was laid out on such an admirable 
plan, with such broad and regular streets, and with the lai'ge 
Common in its centre, we arc indebted chiefly to him. 

From the superstitious religious prejudices which warped 
the judgment of so many of his contemporaries, iie was sin- 
gularly free, and he had the courage to condemn, in the most 
unqualified terms, the bloody proceedings of the Salem Witch- 
craft delusion. When, in 1724, his advanced age forced him 
to seek the- greater comforts which Boston fifforded, he by no 
means relinquished his interest in Bristol, but continued his 
liberal contributions to advance its welfare. He died in Bos- 
ton on the 6th of June, 1733, mourned and lamented through- 
out all the provinces. His will, dated December 6, 1732, shows 
that he possessed great wealth for those old colonial days ; 
it speaks of a mansion-house, stable and various out-buildings 
in Boston ; a rope-Avalk, warehouse, wharf and flats ; other 
tenement houses and stores ; lands covering much of Fort Hill, 
and various lots from Beacon street, west and north, to Cam- 
bridge street; valuable property in several other Massachusetts 



NATHANIEL BYFIELD. 73 

towns, and several thousand acres of land in Maine and "N'er- 
mont. His property was very equitably divided among his 
heirs, the bulk of his estate Ijeing left to his grandson, Byfield 
Lyde, the son-in-law of Governor Belcher. To show his 
catholic spirit he left a bequest of money to " all and every 
minister of Christ, in every denomination in Boston." His 
servants were also remembered with affection and counsel. 

His remains were buried, as has been before said, in the 
Granary Burial Ground ; his tombstone has long since disap- 
peared ; it was inscribed with the Byfield coat of arms, and 
the name Lyde was cut upon the shield. It also bore this 
epitaph from the pen of the Rev. Mather Byles : — 

"Byfield beneath in peaceful slumber lies: 
Byfield the good, the active and the wise; 
His manly frame contained an equal mind; 
Faithful to God, and generous to mankind; 
High in his Country's Honors long he stood, 
Succored distress and gave the hiuigry food; 
In justice steady, in devotion warm, 
A loyal subject, and a Patriot, firm; 
Through every age his dauntless soul was tried; 
Great while he lived, but greater when he died." 

* In this will he sets free his negro slave, Rose, " brought to JJristol from the 
West Indies early in the spring of 1718, in a very weak and hazardous condition, 
judged then to be about thirteen years old." A copy of this will was kindly loaned 
to the author by the Hon. Francis Brinley, of Newport, one of Mr. Byfleld's lineal 
descendants. 



Chapter xi. 



THE OTHER PROPRIETORS. 

1. John Walley. The name of John Walley stands first 
on the Grand Deed, thougii he was manifestly second to 
Byfield in influence and importance. He was born in the year 
1644, probably in the city of London, as his father, the Rev. 
Thomas Walley, was rector of St. Mary's, White Chapel, 
about that time. We do not know in what year Mr. Walley 
came to this country, but it is recorded that his father fol- 
lowed him to Boston, arriving at that town on the " Society," 
from London, May 24, 166.3. 

John Walley was well knov/n and greatly respected through- 
out New England. He was a man of uncommon sweetness 
and candor of spirit, and even in that age of fierce and un- 
reasoning passion, seems to have made no personal enemies. 
Except when he was dragged as an unwilling participant 
into disputes, like that with Judge Saffin, by the imperious 
spirit of his partners in business ventures, his name rarely 
appears in law-suits or personal controversies. All men 
recognized his sterling worth, and gladly testified to his large 
administrative ability. His gentle and retiring disposition 
never allowed him to put himself forward as a candidate for 
office, and yet office after office was continually thrust upon 
him. His fellow-citizens knew that however, unwelcome 
might be the task which was assigned to him, he would yet 
discharge it with singular ability and uprightness. His name 
often appears on the pages of Massachusetts history, and 



THE OTHER PROPRIETORS. 75 

even political opponents, recognizing- liis impartial spirit, 
frequently called him to sliarc in their deliberations for tiio 
welfare of the state. 

For many years he was a member of the Council and 
Judge of the Superior Court. In 1690 he commanded the 
land forces of Sir William Pliipps in the expedition against 
Canada. This expedition was unsuccessful, yet Walley won 
high commendation for his heroism and generalship. He 
wrote a journal of this expedition, which is preserved in 
Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts. His residence in 
Bristol is still standing,* though much changed from its 
ancient form. As a merchant he ac(piired a comfortable 
fortune, the income of which he delighted to expend upon 
objects of benevolence and for the support of religion. In 
his old age a painful disease forced him to seek a more com- 
fortable home in Boston, where he died on the 11th of 
January, 1712. f 

The Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, in a discourse which is un- 
usually free from the fulsome praise which disfigures so many 
of the funeral sermons of that age, recalls with loving ap- 
preciation his many virtues, speaks of the "• singular honor 
which God did him in making him One of the Principal 
Instruments in Planting a Flourishing Town and Church in a 
Place surrounded with gross Error and Ignorance," and tells 
of tlic sorrow with which men, in towns far remote from Boston, 
heard the tidings of his death. 

2. Stephen Burton. Of Stephen Burton we know but little. 
Ho was the most scholarly man of the four proprietors, and is 
said to have been educated at Oxford. He took comparatively 
little part in the founding of the town, not being able to en- 
dure much work because of a disorder in the head. " He was 
the first recording officer of the county, and in his office of 
Clerk of the Peace exercised the functions which are now 
performed l)y the Register of Probate, Clerk of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and Register of Deeds." His hand-writing 



* On the north side of State Street, near Thames Street, somewhat back. 

t Mr. Walley was Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery of Boston. 



76 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

was very beautiful. Five times (in 1685, 1686, 1689, 1690, 
1692), he represented the town as its deputy to the General 
Court, and seems to have been highly esteemed by its citizens. 
He died in Bristol on the twenty-second day of July, 1693.* 
His house stood on Burton Street, and was burnt by the British 
troops in 1778. 

Nathaniel Oliver was a rich merchant of Boston. He 
never settled in Bristol, but sold his share in the Mount Hope 
Lands to Capt. Nathan Hayman. He seems always to have 
retained his interest in the town, and in 1681 presented a bell 
for the use of the church which had lately been established. 
He signed the Grand Articles, but by a vote of the town was 
allow^ed to withdraw from the contract upon payment of 
thirty-five pounds instead of one hundred as there specified. 

3. Nathan Hayman. The name of Nathan Hayman 
appears in the records of the first town-meeting as one of the 
four proprietors. He was a merchant and mariner of Boston, 
a man of much enterprise and shrewdness. He died a few 
years after the founding of the town, and was buried in the 
cemetery east of the Common. By his own order he was 
buried six feet east of the front wall, and this direction of his 
has since been made use of by the surveyors to verify the 
line of the street. His death occurred July 27, 1689. Mr. 
Hayman left two sons, Nathan and John. One daughter be- 
came the wife of the Rev. William Brattle, of Cambridge, and 
one was married to Thomas Churcli. His widow afterw'ards 
married Nathaniel Blagrovc, and at her death, by the direc- 
tion of her second husband, Mr. Hayman's grave was opened 
and her remains were interred with those of the husband of 
her youth. Next to them Judge Blagrove directed that his 
own body should be placed at his death, and in the old bury- 
ing-ground the two tombs may still be seen. 

* Record of Deaths of Town of Bristol. 



Chapter xii. 



THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 

In 1669 the General Court of Plymouth Colony granted 
one hundred acres of land within the present limits of Bris- 
tol, to John Gorham, if it could be honorably purchased of 
the Indians. The necessary arrangements seem to liave been 
perfected without difficulty, for on the first day of July, 1672, 
Constant South worth, James Brown and John Gorham were 
appointed by the Court " to purchase a certain parcell of land 
of the Indians, granted by the Court to said Gorham." 
July 13, 1677, the Court ratified and confirmed this one 
hundred acres to Gorham and his heirs forever. (This land 
was north of the " Neck Burying-Ground," on the west side 
of the main road, and remained in the possession of the 
Gorham family for several generations. It is now [1880] 
owned by Lewis Carr and George Smith.) 

John Gorham must therefore be regarded as the first white 
settler in Bristol, though it is not likely that he erected a 
very substantial dwelling, and his home was broken up at 
the beginning of the war. His descendants are yet living 
among us. 

The deed which the four proprietors had obtained from 
Plymouth conferred special privileges upon the new town. 
It was allowed at once to send deputies to the General Court ; 
it was exempted from taxation for the space of seven years ; a 
Commissioners' Court was established to try ordinary cases 
(under the value of £10), with the right of appeal to the 



78 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Plymouth Court, and it was also agreed that when sixty 
families should have settled in the town a new county should 
he established with it as the county seat. 

The proprietors set themselves energetically to work to 
procure desirable settlers. The task was by no means diffi- 
cult. The many advantages of the Mount Hope Lands had 
long been known throughout New England, and the special 
opportunities for commerce which the fine harbor would 
afford were evident to all. The man who had done the most 
to secure to the English the possession of these fertile fields 
was wisely secured as the proprietorof a (16th) sixteenth part 
of the town, and the fame of Benjamin Church did much to 
draw others of the substantial men of Plymouth and Mas- 
sachusetts to the new settlement. 

The deed was granted Sept. 14, 1680, and on the 29th of 
September the General Court of New Plymouth ratified and 
confirmed it, William Ingraham of Swansey, cooper, acting 
as their attorney, having given possession of the land " by 
turf and twig,"* to the four proprietors on the twenty-second 
day of September, 1680. 

In less than a year from this time the requisite number of 
families had settled in the Mount Hope Lands, and on the 
1st of September, 1681, the people met together and decided 
that the name of the new town should be Bristol. This name 
was not given because any large proportion of the inhabitants 
had come originally from Bristol, England ; it is possible that 
not one of the number had been born in that town ; but Bris- 
tol was then the most important seaport in Great Britain, 
and was specially prominent in the trade with the West 
Indies and the American Colonies. The people of this new 
settlement saw the unusual facilities foi' commerce which 
their beautiful harbor offered, and in pleasant anticipation 
of its future maritime importance decided to give it the name 
of the o;reat English port. 



* This ceremony was very simple. Ingraham took his stand upon the land, in 
company with Wailey and his associates; breaking a twig frem the nearest bush, 
and plucking a bit of turf from the ground beneath their feet, he handed both to 
Mr. Wallej-, and the possession of the laud was transferred. 



THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 



79 



The following persons were, at that first town-meeting, ad- 
mitted as citizens by John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Stephen 
Burton and Nathan Hayman (tlie four proprietors) : — 



'Capt. Benjamin Church, 
Doctor Isaac "NYaldron, 
Nathaniel Williams, 
Nathaniel Reynolds, 
Benjamin Bosworth, 
Edward Bosworth, 
Samuel Penfield, 
George Morj'e, 
John Wilkins, 
William Ingraham, 
Nathaniel Paine, 
Nathan Hayman, 
Christopher Saunders, 
Timothy Clarke, 
John Satfin, 
Solomon Curtis, 
John Finney, 
Jabez Gorham, 
Hugh Woodbury, 
John Rogers, 
Jabez Howland, 
Jonathan Davenport, 
Richard Smith, 
Joseph Baster, 
William Brown, 
John Corps, 



Joseph Ford, 
John Gary, 
Edmund Ranger, 
Benjamin Ingell, 
James Burrows, 
Uzal Wardwell, 
Eliashib Adams, 
Zacliariah Curtis, 
John Gladding, 
Joseph Jacob, 
Robert Taft, 
Peter Pampelion, 
Samuel Woodbury, 
Samuel Gallop, 
Henry Hampton, 
John Thurston, 
Jonathan Finney, 
Nicholas Mead, 
Jeremiah Osborne, 
John Bayley, 
Joseph Sandy, 
Jeremiah Finney, 
George Waldron, 
Thomas Walker, 
Thomas Daggett, 
Thomas Lewis, 



John Pope. 
John Martin, 
David Gary, 
Increase Robinson, 
William Hedge, 
Daniel Landon, 
Widdo (Elizabeth) South- 
ard, ^ 
Anthony Fry, 
John Smith, 
William Hoar, 
Robert Dutch, 
James Burrill, 
Nathaniel Bosworth, 
Benjamin Jones, 
Richard Hammond, 
William Brenton, 
Watching Athertou, 
John Wilson, 
William Throop, 
Major Robert Thompson, 
Thomas Bletsoe, 
Samuel Cobbett, 
John Birge, 
Richard White. 



Chapter xiii. 



BENJAMIN CHURCH. 

Benjamin Church was born at Duxbury, near Plymouth, in 
the year 1639. He was the son of Richard Church, who came 
to Massachusetts in the fleet with Governor Winthrop ; the 
father was a carpenter by trade, and his son was bred to tlie 
same employment. On the 26th of December, 1667, Benjamin 
Church married Alice Southworth, the grand-daughter of the 
wife of Governor Bradford. For a few years after his mar- 
riage he continued to live in Duxbury, occasionally sojourn- 
ing in other towns of the colony, working at his trade when 
the opportunity was offered, and contriving to accumulate 
considerable money. In 1674 he was induced by Capt. John 
Almy, of Rhode Island, to visit Sogkonate (Seaconnet, now 
Little Compton), was pleased with the region, purchased a 
farm near the " East Passage," and erected two buildings 
upon it. This was before the commencement of Philip's War, 
and he was the first Englishman who had settled in that ter- 
ritory. 

" The next spring advancing, while Mr. Church was dili- 
gently settling his farm, stocking, leasing and disposing of 
his affairs, and had a fine prospect of doing no small things ; 
and hoping that his good success would be inviting unto other 
good men to become his neighbors ; Behold ! The rumor 
of a war between the English and the natives gave check to 
his projects." * The farm at Seaconnet was given up, and not 
until many years had elapsed did he go back to live upon it. 

* Church's History. 




^©ilJBEITJJAMIM (CHUJMCM 



BENJAMIN CHURCH. 



81 



Mr. Church ^yas tall and well proportioned, and his frame 
was well knit, built for activity and endurance. As a young 
man he was exceedingly active and vigorous, characteristics 
which strongly commended him to his Indian neighbors. In 
his residence of a year among the Indians, he had gained a 
thorough knowledge of their character, and had acquired 
great influence among them. 

" His peculiar temperament, his activity, his constant cheer- 
fulness and constitutional vivacity, as well as his determined 
courage, gave him a decided and commanding influence over 
this rude race ; and of all the English who bore commands 
during the great war, none was so much feared, so much 
respected, and finally so much beloved by them as this ter- 
rible and triumphant enemy." 

Captain Church possessed, in a remarkable degree,^ that 
ardent thirst for glory, and that burning religious enthusiasm, 
which in all ages has impelled men to deeds of the most 
wondrous daring, and of the loftiest heroism. In the preface 
to his autobiogi^aphy, written when he was very near his end, 
the old hero, with quaint and touching simplicity, discloses 
to the reader the motives which had actuated his whole life : 
" While I was thus busily employed," (in building up his 
plantation at Seaconnet,) " and all my time and strength 
laid out in this laborious undertaking, I received a com- 
mission from the government to engage in their defence ; 
And through the grace of God I was spirited for that work, 
and direction in it was- renewed me from day to day. And 
although many of the actions that I was concerned in were 
very difficult and dangerous, yet myself, and those who 
went with me voluntarily in the service, had our lives, for the 
most part, wonderfully preserved by the overruling hand of 
the Almighty from first to last; which doth aloud bespeak 
our praises -^ And to declare His wonderful works is our 
indispensable duty. I was ever sensible of my own little- 
ness, and unfitness to be employed in such great services. 
But calling to mind that God is strong, I endeavored to put 
all my confidence in Him, and by His Almighty power was 

6 



82 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

carried through eveiy difficult action ; and my desire is that 
His name may have the praise. 

"It was ever my intent, having laid myself under a solemn 
promise, that the many and repeated favors of God to 
myself and those with me in the service might be published 
for generations to come. And now my great age requiring 
my dismission from service in the militia, and to put off my 
armor, I am willing that tlie great and glorious works of 
Almighty God to us, children of men, should appear to the 
world ; and having my minutes by me, my son has taken the 
care and pains to collect from them the ensuing narrative of 
many passages relating to tiie former and latter wars; which 
I have had the perusal of, and find nothing amiss, as to the 
truth of it, and with as little reflection upon any particular 
person as might be, either alive or dead. And, seeing every 
particle of historical truth is precious, I hope the reader will 
pass a favorable censure upon an old soldier, telling of the 
many rencounters he has had, and yet is come off alive." 

In times of peace, the blunt honesty, the hatred of all 
sham and pretence, and the unsparing vigor with which he 
denounced whatever seemed to him mean or low, often ren- 
dered Church unpopular among his neighbors; but in times 
of the gloomiest and most wretched despondency, men 
called for the service of his clear brain and strong right 
arm, just as Rome, in her days of darkest despair, looked up 
to Caius Marius to save the state. It was in fighting and in 
managing Indians that he was most successful, and his 
equal in this respect this country has never seen. " The cap- 
ture of Annawon, for audacious and calculating intrepidity, 
is unmatched in the history of partizan warfare, and exhibits 
a sagacity which could estimate and measure the force of 
moral power when operating on physical force with unerring 
precision, and could truly judge how far the prospect of suc- 
cess could justify the undertaking of an enterprise of appar- 
ent desperation with most inadequate means, and finishing a 
mighty war, after a triumphant train of fights, like a Knight 



BENJAMIN CHURCH. 83 

of Romance, by the solitary and unaided efforts of one won- 
der-working arm." * 

At the beginning of the war Church removed his family to 
Rhode Island for greater safety, while he hastened to devote 
his own powers to the service of the colony ; but the wise 
counsels of the man who had studied so carefully the peculi- 
arities of the Indian character were disregarded, and those 
were entrusted with the conduct of the war whose knowl- 
edge, both of the Indians and of military affairs, was of the 
most rudimentai-y kind. A long series of disasters at last 
forced liis unwilling opponents to give him the command 
which his genius merited, and from that moment Fortune 
seemed to smile upon the English. 

It was in the fullness of his fame — when his praises were 
on the lips of every man — that the gallant leader came to 
dwell in the lands which had belonged to his dead foe ; a lasting 
peace seemed to have been secured to the colonists by his 
achievements, and in the heritage of Philip it seemed fitting 
that Philip's conqueror should have his home. He built a 
liouse on the north side of Constitution Street, near the cor- 
ner of Thames Street, which many readers of this book will 
remember; the old chimney, a most picturesque ruin, covered 
with creeping vines, was torn down to make a place for a 
modern dwelling-house only a few years ago. 

Captain Church was elected to many offices by the people 
of Bristol ; of all these he discharged the duties with the 
honesty of purpose and hearty zeal Avhich characterized his 
every action. He went to Plymouth as the first deputy to 
rei)resent the town at the General Court in 1682, and was 
also its deputy in the two succeeding years. When the 
colonies were again involved in hostilities, in what is known 
as King William's War, he was, in September, 1689, ap- 
pointed Major and Commander-in-Chief of an expedition " to 
the Eastward." This expedition he conducted for a while 
with his usual success, but he was not properly supported by 
the colonial governments. The attention of the people of 

* Baylies' History of Plymouth. 



84 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Massachusetts was too completely taken up with the affairs 
of Sir Edmond Andros to allow them to bestow much tliouglit 
upon their friends in the remote villages of Maine. A coun- 
cil was held and it was deemed best for Church to return to 
Massachusetts that he might in person represent to its 
authorities the defenceless condition of their suffering kins- 
men. His representations were disregarded ; no aid was 
sent, and the French and Indians, under command of Baron 
Castine, massacred nearly all tlie inhabitants of Casco Bay. 
For his services on this expedition the Government of Ply- 
mouth voted to Church the paltry sum of <£42, while Mas- 
sachusetts coolly refused him any compensation whatever. 

The mode of Indian warfare in the thinly settled districts 
of Maine was different from that which the Red men adopted 
in the more populous regions of Massachusetts. Major 
Church foretold the failure of the expedition under the lead- 
ership of Sir William Phipps, in which his townsman, Walley, 
had embarked in 1690, and its issue justified his prediction. 
At last, when other commanders had been repeatedly defeated, 
he was entreated to lead another expedition. With three 
hundred and fifty men he disembarked at Casco Bay and en- 
tered upon a very successful campaign ; but the Government 
of Massachusetts, alleging their great losses in the Canada 
expedition under Phipps, declined to furnish provisions ; his 
raw troops complained of their hard fare and entreated to be 
sent home, and the disgusted leader was obliged to disband 
his forces. 

He returned to Boston, worn out with fatigue, his clothes 
in rags, penniless. The niggardly government contributed 
no money to supply his necessities, and treated him rather as 
a criminal than as a leader who had rendered unequaled ser- 
vice to the State. The conqueror of Philip was obliged to 
depend upon the charity of the master of the sloop which 
had brought him to Boston for his board for three days, and 
upon the generosity of an honest drover for the money with 
which to reach his home. He was even obliged to sell a part 
of his lands to pay the expenses of this expedition, under- 



BENJAMIN CHURCH. 85 

taken in the service of tlie colony. Malicious enemies, whose 
evil doings he had often condemned with all the force of his 
just indignation, spread abroad atrocious calumnies respecting 
him. Their stories were soon proved to be false, but the 
spirit of the gallant soldier was deeply wounded and lie re- 
fused for a time to take the command which was offered him 
by Plymouth. Thrice aftei-ward he went as commander of 
Eastern expeditions, his last commission, as colonel, having 
been made out by Governor Dudley. In each of these he 
was successful, and after each he received the same infamous 
treatment which the authorities of Massachusetts Iiad before 
accorded him. This meanness and sordid parsimony seem 
to us at this day entirely inexplicable. Years after Mr. 
Church's death the General Court of Massachusetts became 
ashamed of their ingratitude, and rendered tardy justice to 
his memory by granting his heirs five hundred acres out of 
any unappropriated land in the province. 

At the age of sixty-five, Colonel Church retired from mili- 
tary pursuits. In his expeditions in the East he had not 
won the fame which had crowned his earlier achievements, 
but in none of them had he been defeated, in not one of them 
had he even been repulsed. What other general of his age 
or country can show as wonderful a record 'i 

Mr. Church lived several years in Bristol, and many of his 
children were born here. From this place he removed to Fall 
River, and finally went back to Little Compton. It is pleasant 
to think, that notwithstanding his long service in war, he was 
yet enal^led by his enei-gy and frugality in times of peace, to 
acquire a comfortable property, and that his declining years 
were not rendered bitter by the grinding chains of poverty. 
"While he was living at Little Compton, he learned that his 
sister, Mrs. Irish, had lost her only child, and he went to pay 
her a visit of condolence. On his return, his hoi'se stumbled 
and threw him with great force on the frozen ground ; the 
old warrior had become exceedingly corpulent, and tlic fall 
ruptured a blood vessel. From the effects of tliis accident he 



86 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

died on the 17th of January, 1718, being then seventy-eight 
years of age.* 

Few men ever served their country more devotedly or more 
illustriously than he ; few were treated with greater injustice 
and ingratitude when living, and few wei'e more sincerely 
mourned when dead. Men forgot how often their own thin 
armor of self-complacency had been pierced by the sharp 
arrows of his fiery indignation, whenever the stern old hero 
had observed any indication of meanness or littleness of spirit. 
They thought of the upright citizen whose sturdy patriotism 
had never wavered, even when his reputation had been unjustly 
assailed by the most bitter calumnies which envenomed malice 
could suggest ; of the valiant captain to whom, amid the fiercest 
carnage of the battle, men looked for inspiration as to the 
very embodiment of cool and unwavering courage. 



* Mr. Church had five sons and two daughters. Of these, the young-est son, 
Charles, was born, lived and died in Bristol. He was for years the Sheriff of the 
County, and possessed much of his father's energ-y and force of character. He 
lies buried east of the Common. From him Colonel Peter Church is descended. 



Chapter xiv. 



JOHN SAFFIN. 

Among the fii-st inhabitants of Bristol was one who seemed 
born for controversies. Like the war-horse, he " scented the 
battle from afar," and was ever ready to plunge headlong 
into the midst of it. In almost all the prominent disputes 
of that early time, the name of John Saffin stands con- 
spicuous as that of one of the leading disputants. Contests 
from which he might easily have escaped, and in the issue of 
which he could have had no special interest, he yet seems to 
have engaged in from a pure love of disputation. He was 
a man of undoubted ability and considerable education, was 
often honored with responsible offices in his earlier years, 
and but for his unfortunate temper, might have risen to the 
highest posts in the colony. 

Mr. Saffin was born in England. He was the eldest son 
of Simon Saffin, merchant, of Exeter, and came to this 
country when quite a young man. In 1665 he joined the 
first church in Boston. In 1078 he was sufficiently promi- 
nent to take part in the ceremonies of Governor Lcvcrett's 
funeral ; in this same year his name appears on the hand- 
bill of the committee of the Narragansett Proprietors, which 
offered for sale tracts of land in that country. In con- 
sequence of this handbill, he was arrested by the colony of 
Rhode Island, after a trial was fined, and his estate. was 
forfeited. In 1680 he was one of the assignees of the title 
of the Narragansett Country, and was present, in 1687, when 
Dudley organized the King's Province. In 1684-85 he 



88 . HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

was a deputy for Boston to the General Court, and in 1686 
his talents secured his election as Speaker of the House. 
This office lie continued to hold until the usurpation of 
Andros. On 20th May, 1686, he was chosen hy the General 
Court of Massachusetts as one of the Confidential Committee, 
to whom the care of the charter and all the important papers 
was entrusted. Although his name is given in the list of the 
original inhabitants of Bristol, he did not at once take up 
his abode in the town. Not until he had married the daugh- 
ter of Mr. Lee, the first settled minister, did he finally cast 
in his lot with the new settlement. When the first town- 
meeting was held, he was probably present with the inten- 
tion of becoming a citizen, but it was not until 1688 that he 
became an actual resident. 

In 1689, with Byfield as a colleague, he represented the 
town at the General Court, and in 1691 and 1692 he was 
again its deputy. He was first Judge of Probate in the 
County of Bristol, holding the office from 1692 to 1702, 
when Mr. Byfield succeeded him ; he was also judge of the 
Superior Court of Massachusetts in tlie year 1701. In 1703 
he had incurred the enmity of Dudley, and his name was 
erased from the list of the counselors. 

In his later years his irascible temper seems to have led 
him into all manner of excesses. He separated from his 
wife * for some slight cause, and refused to live with her 
again, although earnestly entreated so to do. Only ten days 
before his death Cotton Mather addressed to him, upon this 
subject, a letter of admonition and reproof, to which he seems 
to liave paid no attention. He died at Bristol, July 29, 1710. 
His famous "retraction" of the charges which he had 
made against Byfield and Walley, is still preserved ; the 
cliarges liad been referred to arbitrators, and Saffin was 
judged to be in the wrong; the letter shows tliat 

"E'en though vanquished he could argue still." 

* Judge Saffin iviis thrice married. His first wife was Martha, daughter of 
Capt. Thomas Willet, of Swansey (now Barring-ton). (Captain Willet was the first 
mayor of New Yorli.) Mrs. Elizabeth Lidgett was his second wife. He manied 
Rebecca Lee in 16S8. 



JOHN SAFFIN. 89 

JUDGE SAFFIX'S RETRACTIOX. 

"Whereas I, who have heretofore subscribed, and er.joyned by an 
award of arbitration dated the 7lh of July 1(596, given under tlie liands 
and seals of the Hon. William Stoughtou, lieutenant governor, Isaac 
Addington Esq., and John Leverett, M. A. Fellow of Harvard College, 
to make a retraction and acknowledgment in writing under my hand of 
suj)posed ill treatment, wrong and injury offered to Major John Walley 
and Captain Nathaniel Byfield, two of the first purchasers of Mount 
Hope Neck, by sundry reflections in a manuscript entitled "the 
Original of the Town of Bristol, or a true narrative of the first settle- 
ment of Blount Hope Neck, &c " which was made in behalf of the 
inhabitants of said town, who for divers years have complained and 
groaned under the grievances therein mentioned. 

"Now, in order thereunto, I do hei-eby own and declare unto all 
mankind, that if breach of i^romise to a person or people, in a matter 
of great concernment be no evil ; if the chopping and changing of the 
town commons to the great prejudice of the town; obstructing and 
stopping up several ways leading to men's lands (some of them that 
have been enjoyed above thirty years without molestation or disturbance,) 
to be tolerable and not a nuisance strictly prohibited by the laws of our 
nation, then I am exceedingly to blame in charging with evil in so 
doing. If the granting of land upon a good consideration, and upon 
the same promising to give a deed for the confirmation thereof, but 
delaying it, and after eight or nine years quiet possession by the 
grantee, these grantors give a deed of the same land unto others, if this, 
I say, be just and righteous dealing, then I am exceediugly to blame in 
charging with evil in so doing; 

"If the taking up and dividing amongst themselves, and converting 
to their own j^rivate use in farms and great pastures, the most of a very 
considerable number of one hundred and twenty eight house-lots and 
ten-acre lots, which were by the four first jjurchasers in their grand 
articles under their hands and seals proposed, designed, and accord- 
ingly laid out, and declared to be for the encouragement, use, benefit, 
and accommodation, of so many families to build upon and settle on 
Mount Hope Neck, (besides farms and bigger parcels of land,) to make 
a town of trade as they were enjoyned by the Court of Plymouth; I 
say if these actions of theirs be not prejiidicial and injurious to the 
inhabitants of the town of Bristol, then I have done them wrong in 
saying or writing so. 

"If the wilful suffering a certain water-mill, (built for the town's 
use,) to fall and go to decay and utter ruin for by ends and sinister 
respects, not repairing it themselves nor suffering others to do it, who 
have also some right in it, be not a wrong and abuse to the town, said 
purchasers making it first a great argument of encouragement for our 
men to come and buy land of them to settle, in order to a town of 
trade as aforesaid, which is at large set forth in their said articles, and 
backed with many specious pretences and verbal promises never ful- 



90 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

filled; now if these things are right and just, then I am exceedingly to 
blame in charging them with evil in so doing. 

" Again, if it be not an unrighteous thing in Major Walley to take 
and receive £10 of the town of Bristol, and also many day's works of 
them, promising and engaging himself for the same, to make a bridge 
over a certain creek in a way that should lead to said mill, but never 
performed it nor returned the money again, but instead thereof hath 
stopped the way as aforesaid; I say, if such doings and actions be just 
and right, then I have done them wrong in writing to the contrary. 

" And further, if the making of a deed by three of the first pui-- 
chasers, for the dividing of sixteen of the remainder of the one hun- 
dred and twenty eight house-lots amongst four of them, pretending that 
Captain Nathan Hayman was then and therein acting with them as if he 
were alive, and did act and do as they did in all respects, (excepting 
subscribing his name,) for which they left a blank or space giving under 
their hands and seals, that on the twenty seventh day of June 1690, if 
the said Nathan Hayman did with them personally oblige himself, his 
heirs, &g, in the same manner as they did, three or four times men- 
tioned in the said deed, whereas the man was dead and in his grave 
eleven mouths before, I say if these and such like strange actions and 
doings before mentioned, (all of which they have either owned or have 
proved to be done by them,) be warrantable, legal, just and right in the 
sight of God, or according to the laws of the nation, then I do hereby 
own and humbly acknowledge that I have done the said Major John 
Walley and Capt. Nathaniel Byfield much wrong and injury in ren- 
dering their said actions in my said narrative to be illegal, unjust, and 
injurious to the town of Bristol in general, and to myself in particular, 
for which I am sorry. 

" I confess I might have spared some poetical notions and satyrical 
expressions, which I have used by way of argument, inference, or com- 
parison, yet the sharpest of them are abundantly short of those villi- 
fying terms and scurrilous language which they themselves have fre- 
quently given each other both in i^ublic and private, generally known in 
Bristol. 

"But above all 1 am heartily sorry that it is my unhappiness to dif- 
fer so much in my apprehensions from the honored gentlemen, the 
arbitrators, for whom I have always conceived and retained an honor- 
able esteem and veneration, that I would even put my life into their 
hands, the truth whereof may appear by this late submission of mine, 
otherwise I should not have exposed myself as I have done. 

"John Saffin." 

(This was delivered to Major Walley and Captain Byfield, on Friday, 
July 24, 1G96.) 



Chapter xv. 



OTHER EARLY SETTLERS. 

Only a very incomplete account lias been handed down to 
ns of the early lives of the other men whose names appear in 
the record of the first town-meeting. 

John Gary came to Bristol from Bridgewater, Mass. He 
had been a merchant in London, and had accumulated some 
property before coming to America. His father was John 
Gary, a man of much influence by reason of his superior ed- 
ucation and upright character, who came to Plymouth in 1630, 
many years before his son's arrival. Tradition says that the 
elder Gary taught the first Latin school in the colony. Mr. 
Gary built a house on the north side of what is now known 
as Malt House Lane. He was a brewer by trade, and his 
brewery, from which the lane derived its name, was built near 
this house. Some traces of this building may still be seen 
on the farm owned by the late William Paul. Mr. Gary made 
a great quantity of ale. The greater part of this he shipped to 
Newport, from which port it was distributed throughout the 
colonies. He carried on the business until his death, and was 
succeeded in it by his son. When the church was organized 
he was elected one of its deacons, and held the office until his 
death. At the death of Stephen Burton, he succeeded to the 
office which Burton had held. 

Nathaniel Bosworth was the son of Dea. Benjamin Bosworth, 
and was born in Hingham, Mass., in 1651. llis mother, Re- 
becca Stevens Bosworth, was killed by the Indians early in 
Philip's War. Mr. Bosworth lived for a while in Rehoboth, 



92 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

and from thence moved to Bristol. He was l)otli a cooper 
and a fisherman. As a cooper he formed a business connec- 
tion with his brother deacon, John Gary, and the two wrought 
mightily together, not only in their business, but also in their 
spiritual relations. He was chosen deacon on the organiza- 
tion of the church. He died Aug. 31, 1690. His descendants 
are still numerous among us. 

Natlianiel Eeynolds was the son of Robert Reynolds, of 
Boston, Mass., and was probably born in England. He was 
admitted as a freeman in Boston in 1665, was a member of 
the Artillery Company, and did good service in the Indian 
war as captain of a company under Colonel Church. Mr. 
Reynolds built his house on the northeast corner of Brad- 
ford and Thames streets. The old building was torn down 
only a few years ago, and the store of Mr. J. Howard 
Manchester covers part of its site. The town records con- 
tain this minute of his death : " Captain Nathaniel Reynolds 
departed this life July 10th, 1708, his death being very sud- 
den ; for going in from his garden, sat down about two 
minutes, then rose up and went into his lodging-room, lay 
down on his bed and dyed, as it were in a fainting fit." 

Hugh Woodbury was born in Salem, June 30, 1650. 

William Throop, commonly called Goodman Throop, was 
of Scotch descent. He was a son of William Throop, who 
came from Leyden in 1640. He died Dec. 6, 170-1. His 
descendants used to relate, with much pride, the particulars 
of his triumphal entrance into the town. First of all Bris- 
tolians, he made the journey from Barnstable " by team." 
He loaded all his household goods into an ox-cart, placed his 
family thereon, and with stately grandeur, amid the plaudits 
of envious but admiring spectators, moved onward to the 
spot whicli he had determined upon for his habitation. 

Nathaniel Paine came from Swansey. He succeeded 
Byfield in liis office of Judge of Probate. 

Samuel Waldron had previously lived in Boston. 

Jabez Gorham came from Barnstable. Cliristopher Saun- 
ders, from Rehoboth. William Brenton, from Swansey. 




OTHER EARLY SETTLERS. 93 

Jabcz Howland was the second son of the John Howland 
yvwlio came over in the '"Mayflower." His mother was the 
daughter of Governor Carver. He married Bethiah Thatcher, 
and came to Bristol in 1681. He had already become ac- 
quainted with the Mount Hope Lands, in the war which was 
just ended, and in wliich he had served as Captain Clmrch's 
lieutenant. Mr. Howland was a man of great force and 
energy, as he must needs have been who could prove himself 
an acceptable lieutenant to that tireless warrior. Through- 
out his long life he was honored with many and important 
trusts by his fellow-townsmen. He died in 1732, Oct. 17. 

Richard Smith, the first town clerk, was born in London 
in 1643, came to Boston in 1673, and Xov. 9. 1680, removed 
to Bristol. He built a house near the northeast corner of 
Hope and Constitution streets, where liis descendants, for 
many generations, lived and died. He was a mason and 
stone-cutter by trade, and the gravestone which he himself 
fashioned, and on which he traced his autograph, may still 
be seen in the burying-ground east of the Common. He 
died in 1696. 



Chapter xvi. 



HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 

Abstract of the Grand Articles and Explanation of the 
Deed of HigJnvays. 

I. The four proprietors had taken effective measures to pro- 
mote the settlement of the town, even before all the formalities 
necessary to the transfer of the title to the land had been 
gone through with. In company with certain other men, to 
whom they had sold shares in the land, they drew up and signed 
what are known as the Grand Articles. 

In these articles it was promised that there should be " in 
that part of Mount Hope Neck lying opposite Poppasquash 
Neck," one hundred and twenty-eight house-lots laid out. 
Each lot by the water-side was to contain about one acre. A 
highway of convenient breadth was to be laid out between the 
lots and the sea-side, and those whose lots bordered on the 
sea were to have the land lying between the highway and the 
sea, and the privileges of the beaches and flats as far as the 
channel, xill the other lots were to contain about two acres, and 
to each of the lots ten acres were to be laid out at a convenient 
distance. Those having an eighth part were to have two 
house-lots together, two ten-aci-e lots together, and the first 
choice. The holders of a sixteenth part were to choose single 
house-lots and single ten-acre lots next. The holders of 
thirty-second parts were to select lots in the order in which 
they subscribed to the articles. 

When all had chosen, those holding eighth and sixteenth 



HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 95 

parts were to choose the other lialf of their proportion of town 
lots and ten-acre lots. The remainder of the land was to be 
disposed of by the ])roprietors. 

Five linndred acres were to be laid ont in small farms, and 
six hundred acres laid out in common. Of this common land 
all the proprietors of the one hundred and twenty-eight house 
lots, of the small farms, the Poppasquasli Farm, tlie Ferry 
Farm, and the Mill Farm, were to have tlic benefit. It was 
agreed that suitable roads, liigh ways and streets sliould be laid 
out. An allotment was to be made for the ministry, and such 
accommodations provided for the same "• as shall be deemed 
necessary, which shall forever remain and be for the use of 
the ministry for the time being." Such a quantity of land 
as the first purchasers deemed requisite, was to be given for 
the encouragement of the first minister, and lands were also 
to be provided for the ]\Ieeting House, a Burying Place, the 
Town House, the Market House and the School House. 

The holders of the smaller portions of land gave bond to 
the four proprietors faithfully to fulfill their part of the agree- 
ment, and the proprietors bound themselves, under penalty 
of forfeiting one hundred pounds, to settle with tlicir families 
at Mount Hope within three years from the first day of May 
following, and to continue living there until at least sixty 
families should have settled. All others bound themselves 
to settle within three years, and "to continue at least till 
after the first of April next, come five years," under penalty 
of losing their whole share. 

A farm was to be laid out upon Poppasquasli Xeck for the 
four first proprietors and other purchasers, a mill was to be 
built upon it and a road laid out to it, also a ferry was to 
be established and a house built. Across the Neck, by the 
Swansey line, a fence was to be put up. 

The four proprietoi-s and all that had deeds granted them 
bound themselves, under penalty of forfeiting <£200, to build 
a house within one year from the 1st of November following. 
The house was to contain not less than two good rooms o\\ a 
floor, and was to be two clear stories high, with brick or 



96 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. , 

stone chimneys. It was stipulated that all other persons 
should build a house " with not less than one good large 
room and two clear stories high, with brick or stone chim- 
neys," within one year from date of purchasing, on penalty 
of forfeiting their lands. All persons were to fence their 
house-lots within one year. 

Also, " the four First Proprietors and such as shall have 
deeds granted them, shall pay forty pounds per annum in 
money value to the minister of the place, besides the valua- 
tion that shall be laid upon their estate ; this to continue 
until the minister can be comfortably supported with twenty 
pounds. The twenty pounds shall bo paid besides the valua- 
tion, &c., until the minister can be maintained without it." 

Every settler had liberty to buy marsh meadow land ad- 
joining his own, but none could buy any meadow land lying 
against undivided land, unless by general consent. No un- 
divided land could be sold unless the other proprietors had 
the first refusal of it, under penalty of £500. Proprietors 
were to have the refusal of lands to be sold, in preference to 
strangers. Any two of the first purchasers were empowered 
to sue others for a breach of the articles, and any four of tiie 
others could sue the four proprietors. Every settler was to 
pay his portion towards the erection of a Minister's House 
and a Meeting House. 

These articles were signed on the twenty-seventh day of 
August, 1680, " in the thirty-second year of the Reign of our 
Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second over England, &c." 

The signers were : — 

John Walley, for an eighth part. 
Nathaniel Oliver, for an eighth part. 
Nathaniel Byfiekl, for an eighth part. 
Stephen Burton, for an eighth part. 
Isaac Waldron,*for a sixteenth part. 

* Dr. Isaac W^aldron dlefl before the time had expired within which he was to 
settle with his family at Mount Hope. He repented of his purchase very soon 
after it was made, and offered £50 to be released from the bargain. Not being able 
to obtain a release he sold much of his land in small lots. This was greatly to his 
advantage but somewhat to the detriment of the town, as no man of equal means 
and influence was induced to take his place. 



HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 97 

Benjamin Church, for a sixteenth part. 

Nathaniel Williams, for a thirty-second part. 

Nathaniel Reynolds, for a thirty-second part. 

John Walley, for a thirty-second part. 

John Wilkins, for a thirty-second part. 

William Inj^raham, for a thirty-second part. 

Nathaniel Paine, for a thirty-second part. 

Christopher Saunders, for a thirty-second part. 

Nathan Ilayman,* for a thirty-second part. 

John Walley, for a thirty-second part in behalf of Tim Clark. 

Nathaniel Bosworth, for two-thirds of a thirty-second part. 

Benjamin Joanes, for one-third of a thirty-second part. 

Samuel Woodbury, for a thirty-second part. 

* " Reserving liberty without penalty for building his house 
and setting up chimneys, till October come twelvemontli." 

II. The Deed of Highways, granted June 16, 1690, shows 
that but little change has since been made in the streets in 
the compact part of the town. The land was laid out in eight- 
acre squares. Four streets are mentioned by name, " now 
laid out lying between the two creeks at the north and south 
end, running nearly north and south ; tlic lowest, Thames, 
lyetli according to the convenience of the shore; the next 
above is Hope, four rods wide, and is straight from end to 
end. The third street from salt water is High, live rods 
wide, and is straight from end to end ; the fourth is Wood, 
four rods wide, straight from end to end." Thames ."^treet 
is now three rods wide. It originally extended much further 
south than its present limit. The angry waters of that terri- 
ble day in September, 1815, swept away much of its southern 
portion, and the lower end was quite recently closed up by 
order of the Town Council. The other streets remain as 
when first laid out. 

Nine cross streets are described in the Deed," that lie near 
east and west, crossing the aforementioned and running down 
to the sea, seven whereof are five rods wide." " Of the other 
two the northernmost (Oliver) is four rods, and the soutliern- 
most but one (Burton) is three rods in breadth. Every one of 
said nine are straight, and run from Wood to low water mark, 
except the northernmost, which is from Higli to low water 
7 



98 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

mark." By the provisions of this Deed the inhabitants were 
allowed " the improvement of wharfing or otherwise using 
the breadth of any of the nine cross streets below low water 
mark, provided such use he for the to2vn's use and with the 
approbation and consent of the major part of the inhabitants, 
and the consent of the major part of the proprietors of the 
lands on each side of the street tv he re such improvements shall 
be made, and the consent of the major part of the Four Pro- 
prietors living' at the time of the improvement^ 

No names were at first given to seven of these streets. 
The four proprietors, being perhaps unable to agree upon any 
except Charles and Queen, decided to leave the task of naming 
to those who should come after them. It is to be regretted 
in this connection that their posterity did not recognize the 
pre-eminent claims to recognition of the four proprietors, and 
that tlieir names are now applied to comparatively unimpor- 
tant thoroughfares. Byfield Street (so called begause Mr. 
Byfi eld's town house was situated upon it) was not one of 
the nine, but was opened for public use by Mr. Byfield some 
years after this time. 

The nine streets in order were Oliver, Franklin, Bradford, 
State (first called Charles, afterward King Street), Church 
(first called Queen Street), Constitution, Union, Burton and 
Walley. Walley Street is now but four rods wide. Years ago 
John Lindsay had a distillery on the north side of the street. 
As his own lot was not sufficiently large to accommodate his 
business he used a part of the street adjoining for sheds. At 
that time the street was almost impassable because of the 
rocky ledges which extended across it. A complaint was 
made against Mr. Lindsay for trespassing, but at a town- 
meeting his eloquence (or spirits) moved his fellow-citizens 
to an exercise of great liberality, and the town voted to allow 
him the use of one rod on the nortji side of the street during 
its pleasure. Soon after, Mr. Lindsay walled in the rod of 
land, and the original line has never been re-established. All 
these cross streets are straight from end to end. Notwith- 
standing the buildings and the fences which obstruct the shore 



HOW THE TOWN WAS LAID OUT. 99 

ends of some of them, tliey may at any time be extended not 
only to low-water mark but to the ship channel, if the peo- 
ple of the town so desire and order. 

The Back Road, Crooked Lane (now Bayview Avenue), 
Mount Lane, Tanyard Lane, and Sanford (sometimes called 
DeWolf) Lane, all of which are now four rods wide, are 
described in the Deed, but had n9t then been named. Several 
highways further north are also mentioned. One road, 
beginning opposite the west end of what is now Walnut 
Street, and extending to the salt water, does not seem ever to 
have been opened. 

To enable the proprietors of the small farms, and the 
tenants of " the Commonages " more easily to reach their 
lands, many small lanes were laid out, which were afterwards 
closed by the men who had bought up the adjoining lots on 
both sides. This accounts for the sudden ending of such 
streets as Gooding's Lane. Access to the shore was secured 
to all by means of certain drift ways, duly specified, some 
of which have since inadvertently been allowed to be closed up. 

" The Commonages " were mainly laid out between the 
Back Road on the east, Wood Street on the west, Crooked 
Lane on the north, and Sanford Lane on the south. Sanford 
Lane was one of the drift ways extending to the sea, the 
perpetual use of Avhich is guaranteed in the deed. The 
eight-acre tract which now forms the Common, was given by 
the four proprietors, for the public use, benefit, and improve- 
ment, " that is to say, for a Meeting House, Town House, 
and for any other edifice for the town's use, for a market 
place, burying'place, training-field, or any other public use, 
witli the approbation of tlie major part of the inhabitants." 

A lot of land containing two acres was given to the town 
" for the encouragement and use of an able orthodox minis- 
try." This lot was situated at the southeast corner of High 
and Bi-adford streets, the same upon which the church and 
chapel of the Congregational Society now stand. For the 
same purpose a twelve-acre lot west of tlie land " for com- 
mon improvement," and a one hundred and fiftieth part of 



100 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

the Commonages were set apart. " For the encouragement 
and use of an able schoolmaster," land of almost equal extent 
and value was presented, tlie four proprietors thus making 
manifest their conviction that religion and education should 
go hand in hand. 

Never, before, in New England, had a town been laid out 
upon such a liberal scale, and with a more just appreciation 
of what the future needs of the place would be. That 
Bristol is now one of the most beautiful towns in the United 
States, is due almost entirely to the wise policy which its 
first inhabitants pursued. We, in this later day, have some- 
what degenerated, in that we have allowed the newer por- 
tions of the town to be cut up with a multitude of streets, 
too small for any traffic, and laid out without any pretense 
to regularity. At a day not far distant, it is quite possible 
that our short-comings in this respect may have to be atoned 
for by a large expenditure of money. In the matter of high- 
ways, as in everything else, our ancestors thought it always 
best to begin well. 



Chapter xvii. 



SOME OLD HOUSES. 



When the early settlers had selected their building-lots, it 
was not difficult to gather together the necessary materials 
for their houses. The site of the town was covered with a 
dense growth of trees, the oak and the hornbeam predomi- 
nating, and from each man's lot a large proportion of the 
timber which he needed could be cut, while the adjacent 
highway easily yielded the remainder. Only a comparatively 
slight amount of laljor was necessary to secure an abundance 
of stone suitable for the foundations and the chimneys, and 
lime was easily obtained by burning the shells which were 
everywhere found upon the shores. The nails were usually 
brought from Boston. 

Not much diversity of taste was visible in the exterior 
appearance of the first dwellings. In the Grand Articles it 
was stipulated that the proprietors, and all who should have 
deeds granted them, should build a house two stories higli, 
with not less than two good rooms on a floor. To build a 
house with four rooms upon each floor would take more 
time than most of the settlers could well spare from the 
work of clearing their farms and making passable the streets ; 
it would also be too expensive ; so the " camelopard " style 
of building was adopted. This presented a goodly appear- 
ance to the eye of him who stood directly in front, but began 
to grow beautifully less as soon as the beholder shifted his 
position ; a few steps only would be sufficient to establish 
the fact that the stately mansion soon degenerated into a 



102 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

wood-pile. As tlie means of the owners increased, additions 
and alterations were made to the early houses, and as the 
later comers were enabled to devote more time and money 
to the construction of their dwellings, the old type of house 
gradually disappeared. A few of those built in later years 
yet remain. One may still be seen on the west side of the 
" Main Road," not far from " Poppasquash Corner." 

Usually one chimney was deemed sufficient for each house. 
Those who can recall the appearance of the old chimney 
which used to stand near the northeast corner of Constitu- 
tion and Thames streets (it once belonged to the house of 
Capt. Benjamin Church), can get a very good idea of what 
a stupendous thing the chimney of our forefathers was. 
The brick chimneys were only about fourteen feet square, 
but those which were built wholly of stone were, for the most 
part, about twenty feet square at the base. All had immense 
fire-places, usually large enough for a full-grown man to walk 
into without stooping, and all were most admirably adapted 
to keep a house cold. The carpenter's work, in those early 
days, was somewhat rude and imperfect, but the ventilation 
of the house was always most excellent, and there was never 
any lack of fresh air. On the cold mornings of December 
the members of the family would come shivering down to 
breakfast, — for our hardy ancestors disdained to have a fire 
in their sleeping-rooms. An enormous pile of huge logs 
would be blazing upon the ample hearth, and the faces of 
those who incautiously ventured too near the fire would be 
almost blistered with the heat ; but in the farther corners of 
the room the snow which had drifted in through the cracks 
during the night would still lie unmelted upon the floor, and 
even the coffee left upon the table would soon be frozen in 
the cups. It is not to be wondered at that our fathers, who 
were brought up in this heroic manner, were able to endure 
without much discomfort a degree of cold from which we, 
their degenerate sons, shrink homeward in dismay. 

Two years after the settlement of the town, some eighteen 
dwelling-houses had been erected. The greater portion of 



SOME OLD H0USE3. 



103 




The Old Bosworth House. 

these were pulled down, to give place to more modern dwell- 
ings. Six were Inirnt by the British troops. Two of the 
oldest still remain, though both have been greatly altered in 
appearance. 

Just north of the Town Bridge,* on the east side of the 
road, stands the first house erected within the limits of 
Bristol. It is now the residence of Mrs. James DeWolf 
Perry, one of the descendants of its first owner. It was 
built by Deacon Nathaniel Bosworth, in the year 1680. 
Many changes and additions have been made since that time. 
Only the southwest portion was built by Mr. Bosworth, but 
his successors have taken care, in the additions which they 
have made, to preserve the architectural peculiarities, and the 
old mansion which has withstood the storms of two centuries, 
still presents the air of quiet comfort which first made glad 
the heart of Deacon Bosworth. The years have dealt ten- 
derly with the old house, and the loving hands of its suc- 
cessive occupants have carefully repaired the ravages of 
time. The southwest room remains almost as it was when, 



* Tn the old records this bridge is usually spoken of as the North Bridf?e, or the 
bridK^c o\ ur thf North Creek, to distinguish it from th(! South Uridgo, almost 
opiJosite Walker's Island. The South Creek must once have been almost as i)romi- 
nent a feature of the town as the North Creek still is, but the many ehangfs made 
u|)on its banks within the past century, have almost caused us to forget that such 
a creek ever existed. 



104 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

in 1680, the people of the little settlement gathered within 
its walls for their first religious service, Mr. Bosworth 
died in 1690, and the house remained in the possession of 
descendants bearing his name until 1750. 

In the year 1750 it was bought by Shearjashub Bourne,* a 
lawyer of distinction who had settled in Bristol five years 
before. Mr. Bourne's wife was a descendant of Nathaniel 
Bosworth, and had previously inherited a part of his estate. 
When Wallace bombarded the town, in 1775, Mr. Bourne was 
living in the house. Its present owner received from her 
mother, in her childhood, the tradition that several cannon 
balls, shot from the British vessels during the bombardment, 
had pierced the walls of the old building and lodged between 
the ceiling and the floor of the second story. Incredulous 
listeners had smiled with poorly concealed disbelief when- 
ever the story was told, but the faith of its narrator had never 
wavered. In 1863 the ceiling of the great parlor was torn 
down to make some necessary repairs, aud Mrs. Perr}^ was 
sarcastically invited to find the cannon balls. Scarcely had 
she entered the room when down fell several large sized grape- 
shot almost at her feet, and the voice of skepticism was 
hushed. 

In 1797, fleeing from the yellow fever at Providence, Judge 
Benjamin Bourne f came to live in his father's mansion. Then 

* Shearjashub Bourne graduated from Harvard Colleg'e in 1743, in the same 
class with the Rev. John Usher, Jr. He died at Bristol Feb. 9, 1781. 

•I- Benjamin Bourne was born in the Old Bosworth House, Sept. 9, 1755. He 
graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1775, and at once commenced the 
study of law. His talents and learning soon gained for him a commanding 
position in his profession, and the greater part of his life was spent in the public 
service. In 1776 he was Quartermaster of the Second Rhode Island Regiment. 
He was for several years a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, 
and in 1789, in company with the Rev. James Manning, President of Brown Uni- 
versity, he was deputed to present to the United States Congress the petition 
setting forth the distressed condition of Rhode Island, and praying that her com- 
merce might be exempted from foreigrn duties in the ports of the Union. When 
Rhode Island adopted the Constitution of the United States, and became a mem- 
ber of the Ameiican Union, in 1790, he was elected her first Representative to 
Congress, and was re-elected to the Second, Thii-d, and Fourth Congresses, serving 
from Dec. 17, 1790, to 1796. In 1796 he resigned his seat, and in 1801 he was appointed 
Judge of the United States District Court, for the District of Rhode Island. 
Judge Bourne received the degree of LL. D. from Brown University in 1783, and 
was a member of its Board of Trustees from 1793 until his death, Sept. 17, 1808. 



SOME OLD HOUSES. 105 

the old house rang with the voices of tlie lawyers who made 
the Rhode Island Bar illustrious three-quarters of a century 
ago. James Burrill, then the Attorney-General of the State, 
was a frequent visitor ; Benjamin R. Hazard (Black Ben, he 
used to Ije called), Asher Robbins, Elisha R. Potter. avIio for 
forty years was such a conspicuous figure in Rhode Island 
politics, and Wilkins Updike, often crossed its threshold. 
From the neighboring state of Massachusetts, Fisher Ames, 
the man whom friends and foes alike acknowledged to be the 
ablest debater in the National House of Representatives, came 
frequently to visit his old college friend. With these older 
lawyers there entered sometimes a young man whose wither- 
ing sai'casm, wonderful knowledge of human nature, fervid 
eloquence and rare reasoning powers afterwards did so much 
to enhance the fame of Rhode Island whenever Tristam 
Burges rose from his scat in the halls of Congress. 

Judge Bourne made some changes in the house, and added, 
for his library, the room at the southeast corner. In tlie 
great gale of 1815 the inhabitants of tlie flimsier dwellings 
of a later age fled to the stout old house, as a haven of refuge 
when the fierce waves were threatening to engulf them. The 
waters swept over the threshold, wrenched off a door or a 
blind here and there, and filled the rooms of the lower story 
level with the window seats, but no special harm was done to 
the house itself. In 1863 the whole building was carefully 
repaired, and the northeast part was added. The venerable 
mansion shows to-day few signs of age, and seems likely to out- 
last most of the houses which have lately sprung up around it. 

The Walley house, of which mention has been made in a 
previous chapter, is also standing, though sadly changed. 
The stout oaken beams which form its frame still remain 
sound as of yore, but the exterior has been many times 
changed, as the inroads of time have made repairs necessary, 
or the tastes and the means of successive pro})rietors have 
suggested alterations. Tlie old building has passed through 
strange vicissitudes. When it was erected, and for several 
years after that time, no houses were built on the west side 



106 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

of Thames Street, and it stood in solitary state among trees 
which almost surrounded it, but which left its view of the 
harbor unobstructed. From its upper windows curious eyes 
looked outward upon bark canoes, gliding silently over the 
sparkling waters, and the little shallops of the coasting 
trade winging their way from port to port. Gradually houses 
grew up about it, and the Indian canoes and humble shallops 
gave place to the larger vessels which the West India busi- 
ness required. These, again, passed away, and ambitious 
warehouses received the rich freights which stately ships had 
brought from all quarters of the globe. Afterwards, a row of 
insignificant buildings shot up in front of it, as if to mock its 
former grandeur, the shrill whistle of the steamboat and the 
busy hum of machinery were heard in the air, and the old 
mansion which had welcomed beneath its hospitable roof 
the famous statesmen, the accomplished divines, and the 
lovely women of the old colonial days, awoke one day to find 
that it had fallen forever from its high estate, and had 
become a factory tenement-house. 

Nathaniel Byfield built his first house on Byfield Street, 
on the lot where the residence of Mr. Isaac F. Williams now 
stands. It also was one of the earliest dwellings, and was 
occupied until 1833, when it was torn down to make way 
for the present building. The old house was two stories in 
heiglit, with a l)arn roof, and was nearly square, its dimen- 
sions being thirty by thirty-eight feet. It was not built in 
the " camelopard " style, already described, and had no " lean- 
to." Its frame was made of the hardest kind of blue white- 
oak, and was joined together in the strongest manner pos- 
sible. These timbers showed no signs of decay when the old 
building was taken down, and seemed indignantly to defy the 
feeble efforts of the carpenters to fashion them for further 
use ; the keenest tools could hardly make an impression upon 
them. Some of them, however, which were afterwards used 
for the sills of another building, soon decayed when placed 
in their new location. Like human beings, they had become 
accustomed to one variety of climate, and could not endure the 



90ME OLD HOUSES. 107 

change when exposed in their old age to strange drauglits of 
air. The great chimney, fonrteen feet square, stood almost 
in the centre of the house and directly opposite tlie front 
door; around this chimney it was necessary to go in passing 
from the front of the house to the rear. This chimney was 
built entirely of imported bricks, and was held together with 
mortar mixed with shell-lime. So hard had this mortar 
become l)y lapse of time that when the old chimney was 
finally overthrown, it fell to the ground as a log would fall, 
almost without a break. The floors were made of very wide 
boards of some foreign wood, and were fastened with wrought- 
iron nails ; no other kind of nails was used in the construction 
of the house. The four rooms on the ground floor were eight 
and a half feet high ; on the second floor they were perhaps 
a foot lower. Huge beams ran across the ceiling of every 
room, and the spaces between the beams were plastered. 
(The hair used in the plaster was hogs' bristles.) The lower 
front rooms were wainscoted, while the walls of the back 
rooms were plastered. Immense fire-places in each room 
were provided for warming the house. This was undoubt- 
edly the finest of the early residences, the ample means of 
its owner enabling him to build in more expensive style than 
his neighbors. 

When the house was built, Mr. Byfield probably intended 
to live in it. The farms upon Poppasquash at first belonged 
to many proprietors, and it was not until he had acquired 
the ownership of almost all the peninsula that he decided to 
erect a second dwelling upon Poppasquash, and to make that 
his homestead. The house on Byfield Street was, in the 
earliest days of the town, devoted to public uses. At a town- 
meeting held February 20, 1681-82, the town agreed to pay 
Mr. Byfield <£10 for the use of his house for one year, '• or 
so much of the house as Mr. Woodbridge (the first minister) 
will be satisfied withal for the convenience of his family." 
The lower front room at the south end was also engaged 
" for the Town to meet in upon Sabbath days," the town 
agreeing to leave it in good repair. Byfield Street was 



108 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

originally planned by Mr, Byfield himself, as a drive-way to 
his house. Milk Street he opened in order the more con- 
veniently to reach his stable, which stood upon Church 
Street, near the spot where the three-story tenement-house 
now stands. 

The second Byfield house was built on Poppasquash, on 
the lot where Deacon William Manchester's house now 
stands. This was considered the finest site for a dwelling- 
house on the peninsula, and was one of the last lots which 
came into Mr. Byfield's possession. It had at first been 
purchased by Major Walley, and was by him transferred to 
his associate. This house was larger than the town house, 
but was by no means as fine a building. It was a " camel- 
opard," fronted south, and was two stories high in front. 
In the rear its roof was carried downward until it was only 
about seven feet from the ground. This building was framed 
with the same species of iron timljer which had l)een used in 
the first house. Some of its beams are still doing good 
service in various out-buildings upon the Churcli farms. A 
large, double door, about six feet Avide, opened to receive tlie 
guests who came to share Mr. Byfield's generous hospitality. 
Within the hall, two doors standing open on either side 
displayed the white, sanded floors of two rooms, each six- 
teen feet square. The windows of these rooms were fur- 
nished with wooden blinds, — shutters we should call them 
now, — an unusual luxury in those days. The walls of all 
the rooms were plastered. No paint seems to have been 
used, either upon the exterior or the interior, and the wood- 
work was almost black with age when the house was finally 
demolished. 

The tenants of the house (it held four families in its later 
years) used sometimes to fear that it would come tumbling 
about their heads in some of the autumn gales, so aged did 
it seem, but their fears were groundless. The boisterous 
winds, raging angrily about, might tear off here and there a 
clapboard from the front, or send some of the long slab 
shingles which covered the sides of the old building whirling 



SOME OLD HOUSES. 109 

tlirough the air, but the great oaken beams of the frame only 
braced themselves the more firmlj against the two immense 
chimneys, and grimly defied the shrieking adversary. When 
tlie house was near its end the floors of all the rooms sloped 
downward from the chimneys: the foundation walls had 
settled away, but the clnmneys stood as when the masons left 
them. In each room were great fire-places, and, strange to 
say, an oaken beam a foot in diameter ran across each fire- 
place, exposed to the smoke and the flames of a hundred and 
fifty years of fire. 

One of these mammoth fire-places was almost directly 
opposite the door at the back of the house. On a cold, snowy 
day in November the father of the present owner of the land 
rose early in the gray dawn of the morning and went out to 
feed his cattle. As he passed into the kitchen he was some- 
what troubled to find the outer door open and a snow-drift 
upon the floor. He was not much surprised at the circum- 
stance, however, for tramps were then unknown, and bolts 
and ])ars were not looked after as in these later days. " The 
wind has blown the door open," he thought, and went onward 
to the barn-yard. At that time farmers paid little attention 
to the housing of their cattle and left them to seek shelter 
for themselves. All the cattle were there but one great ox, 
and he could nowhere be found. Mindful of the snowy 
kitchen, and possible reflections upon the subject from his 
good wife, the farmer did not stay long to seek for him, but 
retraced his steps and was soon hard at work upon the drift. 
Suddenly he became aware of an unusual sound from tlie 
chimney, and turning about beheld the missing ox gazing 
with tranquil approbation upon his labors. The animal had 
wandered inquiringly up to the door, and it had yielded 
hospitably to his touch. The fire liad died upon the hearth, 
but the great l)rick mass still retained an enticing warmth, 
and the ox complacently accepted its genial shelter. 



Chapter xviii. 



GLEANINGS FROM THE TOWN RECORDS OF THE FIRST 
HALF-CENTURY. 

The history of the town during the first fifty years of its 
existence may be gleaned in a very satisfactory manner from 
the records of the town-meetings. From such a source at 
the present time, only a series of dry and uninteresting 
resolves could be brought forward, to tire the patience of the 
reader, but in those earlier days, when the number of inhab- 
itants was small, when all were members of one church, and 
the church and town were one, common desires, common 
needs, and common trials stamped a vivid and lasting impres- 
sion of the times, even upon the dull pages of the town clerk. 

The first meeting for the transaction of general business 
was held on the tenth day of November, 1681. Jabez How- 
land was chosen town clerk until the succeeding June, and 
Jabez Gorham, surveyor of highways for the same period. It 
would appear that " prophane " persons had made their appear- 
ance in the settlement, even at that early date, and that their 
presence had been tolerated and perhaps encouraged by 
thoughtless settlers, because their assistance was needed in 
clearing away the forests and in building houses. The law 
which the General Court had passed " For the preventing of 
prophane increasing in the Colony, which is so provoking to 
God, and threatening to bring judgment upon us," was en-, 
tirely disregarded, therefore the town voted, 

" That if any luhabitaut entertain or employ any person, after he hath 
been ten days orderly warned out of the said Town, shall be liable to 



TOWN RECORDS OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY. Ill 

pay ten shillings a week for the use of the Town so long as he shall enter- 
tain him or them afterward." 

"Voted, a pair of Stocks be made and set up speedily, and that a 
Pound be built and the charges to be paid out of the Kates." 

•'The Town orders Fifty pounds to be Rated, Forty pounds for and 
towards the Building of a House for the Minister,* and Ten pounds to 
defray publick charges in the said Town. This rate to be paid in Money 
or equivalent to Money, to be paid at or before the 15th day of May 
next." 

Mr. Xathaniel Byfield, Capt. Benjamin Church, and Ser- 
geant John Gary were appointed Raters. 

At the next meeting, Feb. 20, 1682, Jabez Gorham agreed 
to provide wood for Mr. Woodbridge and his family for one 
year, for £5 in silver money. When we consider that fire- 
wood was more plenty than anything else in the little town, 
we can form some idea of the enormous amount which was 
deemed necessary for each household, from the price which 
Mr. Gorham placed upon his own labor. At least forty cords 
a year must have been consumed by each family. 

At this meeting 

" The Inhabitants of said Town agreed that no Hoi'se nor Horse kind 
shall be suffered to go at large upon the Common, but such as are kept 
for saddle or draught, and that all such horses, their color with their 
mark, shall be by the owners of them brought to the Town Clerk and 
he to enter them into the Town Book, and if any neglect to do so, if 
their Horse or Horses be taken up, the owner of such Horse or Horses 
shall be liable to pay Twenty Shillings, that is to siiy — Ten Shillings to 
the use of the Town and Ten Shillings to the person that takes him up, 
and that all persons that have any Horse or Horses going upon the 
Common, they shall brand them with the Town brand, with a B on the 
off shoulder." 

This book of Marks, etc., is still preserved, and furnishes 
interesting reading to the antiquarian. In this book was 
kept a record of all horses brought into the town, and also 
of those exported from it. Much attention was paid to the 
breeding of horses in those earlier years, and very many 
cargoes of them were shijjped to the West Indies and the 
Spanish Main. The first recorded shipment was made by 

*The i)roceoding-s respecting' the choosing and supporting- the minister will be 
given in a subsequent chapter. 



112 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

Nathaniel Byfield, on the 6th of November, 1686. A num- 
ber of his horses were placed on board the " Bristol Mer- 
chant," bound for Surinam, and the distinguishing charac- 
teristics of each animal are carefully specified. 
— - Mr. Jabez Rowland does not appear to have made a very 
efficient town clerk, and at a meeting held May 22, 1682, 
Richard Smith was chosen in his stead, " to do the office of a 
Town Clerk, and to enter upon record what former town 
orders had been made." The town had by no means lost 
confidence in M]-. Howland, for it immediately proceeded to 
elect him to the responsible office of Selectman.* His col- 
leagues were Benjamin Church and Jolm Rogers. Captain 
Church was elected to represent the infant town at the General 
Court, and Increase Robinson was chosen Constable. 
The Constable's Oath was as follows: — 

"You shall Swear to be truly Loyal to our Sovereign Lord King 
Charles, his Heirs and successors, you shall faithfully serve in the office 
of a Constable, in the Township of Bristol on Mount Hope, for this pres- 
ent year, according to that measure of Wisdom, understanding and 
discretion God hath given you, in which time you shall diligently see 
that Majesty's peace commanded be not broken but shall carry the 
persons before the Governor of this Corporation, or some, or one of his 

* The offlce of Selectman was, at this time, one of very great Importance. The 
General Court had enacted that cither three or five suoh officers should be chosen in 
each town ; they were empowered " to hear and determine all debts and dilTerencos 
arising- betwixt person and person, not exceeding thirty shillings," to hear and 
determine ditferences between settlers and Indians, to give forth summons in His 
Majesty's name, and to determine controversies according to legal evidence, to 
administer oaths, and issue executions. They were required to take notice of all 
who should come into the government, and to requii-e an account of all who should 
neglect to attend public worship from supposed profanity or slothf ulness. No sin- 
gle persons could live by themselves or in anj^ fanulies but those approved by them. 
They could, with the constable, "repair to any house or place where they might 
suspect that any slothful did lurk at home or get together in companies to neglect 
the public worship of God, or profane the Lord's Day," and return the names of 
offenders at the next court for punishment. They were thus the chief executive 
and police otflcers of the towns ; they were judicial officers also, and had a general 
oversight over manners and morals. It is not to be wondered at that men some- 
times shrank from the responsibilities of the position, and that a law had to be passed 
fining any man who should refuse to take the office. The following oath was 
required of the selectmen : — 

" You shall, according to the measure of Wisdom and discretion God has given 
yon, faithfully and impartially try such cases between party and party, brought 
before you, as also give summons respecting your trust as Select Man of the Town 
of Bristol for this present year. So help you God." 

The offlce of constable was also a very important one. Its duties are accurately 
defined in the oath above given. 



TOWN RECORDS OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY. 113 

Assistants, and there attend tlie hearin<;- of the Case, and such order as 
shall be given you, you shall apprehend all suspicious persons and 
bring them before the said Governor, or some one of his Assistants as 
aforesaid. You shall duly and truly serve such Warrants and Sum- 
mons' as shall be directed unto you from the Governor and Assistants 
before mentioned, or by such as are, or may be Deputed by the Court 
to grant Warrants and yummons' in his Majesty's name within your 
Town or Liberties, and shall labor to advance the peace and happiness 
of this Corporation, and oppose any thing that shall seem to annoy the 
same, by all due means and courses. So help you God who is the God 
of truth and the punisher of falsehood." 

By a law of the colony passed in 1659, each constable was 
oI>liged to provide himself with a staff, and if not re-elected 
he was required to deliver this badge and weapon of office 
to his successor. Any one refusing to take the office was 
fined =£4. 

September 7, 1682, the first action respecting a school 
was taken. 

"Voted concerning a School, viz.: That each person that hath Chil- 
dren in Town ready to go to School shall pay three pence the week for 
each Cliilds Schooling to a Schoolmaster, and the Town by Rate ac- 
cording to each Ratable Estate shall make the wages amount to 
Twenty-four pounds the year. The Select Men to look out a Grammar 
Schoolmaster and use their endeavor to attain five pounds of the Cajie 
Money granted for such an end." 

(The subsequent votes on school matters will be given 
in the chapter on the schools.) 

At a town-meeting held December 22, 1682, 

" It was voted and ordered that things Ratable shall be valued as 
followeth — 

Meadow Land at three pounds the Acre. 

Land improved by Plow or Hoe, at thirty shillings the Acre. 

Land within fence for pasture for their own particular use at twenty 
shillings the Acre. 

Dorman Land at forty shillings a hundred Acres. 

A yoke of Oxen at six pounds. 

A Cow at forty shillings. 

A two year old at twenty shillings. 

A yearling at twelve shillings. 

A Horse at three pounds. 

A Mare at forty shillings. 

A two year old Colt at twenty shillings. 

A year old Colt at ten shillings. 
8 



114 



HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 



A Swine of half a year old at four sliillinos. 
A Swine of a j'ear old, and upwards, at ten shillings. 
Sheep at twenty shillings the score. 

Single persons that have been here three months five shillings a piece. 
The rate of faculties and i^ersoual abilities, to be left at the Eaters 
discretion." 

May 28, 1683, " John Rogers had a grant from the Town 
by vote that the Selling of Wine and Rum by Retail might 
be added to his former license." This was the first license 
given to sell any liquors at retail. 

Up to Aug. 9, 1686, the first Training Day, forty-four per- 
sons had taken the Oath of Fidelity,* one of the essential 
conditions to the exercise of the right of suffrage. These 
were : — 

June '20, 1G83. 



John Wilkiiis, 
Hugh Woodbviry, 
Jonathan Davenport, 
Richard Smith, 
John Corps, 
Joseph Ford, 
John Hinton, 



Nathaniel Bosworth, 



Samuel Gallup, 
Uzal Ward well, 
Thomas Daggett, 
Joseph Sandy, 

Capt. Nathan Hayman, 
John Wilson, 
Watching Atherton, 
Peter Pampelion, 



George Waldrou, 
Thomas Walker, 
John Pope, 
John jNIartin, 
James Burrill, 
Benjamin Jones, 
Zachary Curtis, 

May 21, 1G84. 
Samuel Woodbury, 

May 17, 1685. 
William Brown, 
Joseph Gritting, 
Jeremiah Finney, 
Philip Bumpus, 

August !), 1G8G. 
John Thurston, 
Jeremiah Bosworth, 
Samuel Smith, 



John Gladding, 
Bellamy Bosworth, 
Edward Bosworth, 
Nicholas Mead, 
Robert Taft, 
Joseph Jacobs. 



Solomon Curtis. 



John Bailey, 
George Morye, 
James Burroughs. 



Samuel Penfield, 
George Gold, 
Robert Dutch. 



* The Oath of Fidelity was as follows : " You shall be truly loyal to our 
Sovereig-n Lord Kinor Charles, his heirs and successors, and whereas you choose at 
present to reside within the government of New Plymouth, you shall not do or 
cause to be done any act or acts, directly or indirectly, by land or water, that shall 
or may tend to the destruction or overthrow of the whole or any the several 
plantations or townships within the said g-ovornraent that are or shall be orderly 
erected or established, but shall contrawise hinder, oppose, and discover the same, 
and such intents and purposes as tend thereunto, to the governor for the time 
being, or some one of the assistants with all convenient speed. You shall also 
submit unto and obey all such good and wholesome laws, ordinances, and offices 
as are or shall be established within the limits thereof. So help you God." 



TO\yN RECORDS OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY. 115 

The name of Beiijainiii Cliui-cli IVequently appears in the 
early records. He was the first deputy of the town at Ply- 
mouth, and one of the first selectmeu, and was so often 
appointed on committees to take charge of pul)lic business, 
that the absence of his name from the records indicates, in 
almost every case, his absence from the town at that time. 
In 1683 the wolves had become exceedingly troublesome, and 
Captain Church had evidently expressed his mind in very 
strong terms concerning the ineffectual warfare which had 
been carried on against them, for it was voted in May, that 
" Forty shillings forth of the next rate," should be given to 
such person or persons as sliould make two wolf-pits " to the 
liking of Capt. Church and Sergeant Cary ; the benefit of the 
Pits to go to the makers of the Pits provided he keep them 
well." Henry Hamton rashly attempted the task, and his 
work was by no means satisfactory. Oct. 24, 1683, the town 
agreed to leave the controversy with Hamton to be decided 
by tlie constable and selectmen, and Church agreed to make 
the pits within a month. Of course we read nothing further 
concerning the matter. 

On the 24th of October, 1683, the name of John Saffin first 
appears upon the minutes of the proceedings. He had neg- 
lected to pay the rate which had been assessed against him,. 
and Walley, Byfield, and Church were appointed a committee 
to attend to such cases. At this same meeting a rate of £250 
for tiie erection of a meeting-house was ordered, and in 
anticipation of its immediate completion 

" It was Voted that the way for Warning all Town Meetings for here- 
after, shall be by a paper posted on or by the Meeting House Door and 
Signed by him as the Law directs, and shall be set up three Days or 
more (one of the three being a JSabbath day) before said Meeting." 

The meeting on May 21, 1684, seems to have been very 
poorly attended (for a long time the inhabitants of the col- 
ony were allowed to send in their votes by proxy), and it was 

" Agreed that every Inhabitant of this Town, that doth not appear 
and attend at the Toun Meeting orderly warned at the time appointed, 
shall for every neglect, pay two shillings, to the use of the Town, to be 
addtd to their next Kate, and gathered or levied together with their 



116 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Kate, uuless they give their excuse to the Select Men before the next 
Eate be made, and the major part of the Select Men be satisfied there- 
with." 

At this meeting Mr. Walley completed the arrangement 
respecting " a Cart Bridge over the Creek near Mr. Bos- 
worth's," which is alhided to with such satisfaction to Major 
Walley in Judge Baffin's retraction.* The following addi- 
tional agreement reads very strangely at this age ; " Agreed 
that said Walley finding good gates and keeping them in good 
repair every inhabitant in town shall be liable to pay Five 
Shillings to said Walley, each time they leave any of the 
gates open that are in the way to the mill, every inhabitant to 
he accountable for his family ^ 

Sept. 16, 16S4. "The Town orders that William Carrenton shall 
have forty shillings in money for Einging the Bell at five of the Clock 
in the Morning, and nine of the Clock at Night for the Week, and to 
ring four times on the Sabbath day, the time commencing and begin- 
ning April ISth last passed and from thence to complete a whole year. 
It is also ordered that what person soever shall presume to Eing the 
Bell at any unreasonable time shall forfeit five shillings in Money, for 
the use of the Town to be gathered by the Constable, by Warrant from 
a Magistrate." 

This was the bell which had been presented for the use of 
the people by Nathaniel Oliver, in 1682. It had not been 
given outright, but had been loaned for an indefinite time. 
The town had agreed to deliver the bell to Mr. Oliver when it 
should be called upon to do so, or if the bell should be " damni- 
fied, to make satisfaction." It was at first hung in a tree at 
the corner of High and State streets (on the lot where the 
residence of Dr. Lemuel W. Briggs now stands), but was hung 
on the top of the meeting-house in 1692. The practice of 
ringing the bell of the Congregational Church at nine o'clock 
at night was continued until 1871. Nathaniel Church Avas 
the last bell-ringer, and held the office almost thirty years. 

In 1685 the colony was divided into three counties, bearing 
the names of Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable. The County 
of Bristol, of which Bristol was created the shire town in 

* See page 90. 



TOW.V RECORDS OP THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY. 



11' 




Residence of Dr. Lemuel W. Briggs. 

accordance with tlic provisions of the Grand Deed,* com- 
prised the following towns and plantations : — 



•• Incorporated in Tauilton, 



IS^II. 


Cnhainu't, 


llj-l.-). 


Rehoboth, 




Srekonk, 




Wa>niami)imt, 


1664. 


Dartmouth, 




Acvualiiua, 


166T. 


Swansej-, 




rokaiiDlid, 




Sowanis, 


lt;8i. 


Bristol, 


1683. 


Little Compto 


1683. 


Freetown, 



r Comprised the towns of Norton, Dig-hton, Rayn- 
t ham, Easton, Manstield, and Berkley. 



u 



Seekonk, Pawtiicket. 
) 

( New Bedford (Accushena), Westport ( Accukset), 
> Fair Haven (Sconticutt). 

-Warren, Barrington, Somerset. 

Kikcmuit. 
, Seaconnet. 
Axsu)tet, Troy. 
Rehoboth North Purchase ( plantations, -' Attleborough, 

Gore, ' ' ' Cumberland. 

Pancatco^t, ) Tiverton." + 

Pocasset, > 

At this time Bristol was tlie most thriving town in the 
colony, and was steadily increasing in influence and import- 



* See page 62. 

+ From the New Emjhuid Mi:miiriaL 



118 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

ance. In the succeeding year Sir Edmund Andres attempted 
to collect from the town the tax of one penny per pound, 
which had been levied throughout the colony for the sup- 
port of the government. This action of the royal governor 
called for a vigorous remonstrance from the people, and the 
selectmen (Capt. Benjamin Church, Mr. Thomas Walker, 
and Mr. John Rogers) were instructed to write " to liis 
Excellency, our Governor, to request him to confirm the 
Grant of the former Governor to this Town, which was to be 
f]-ee from all Country Rates for seven years, which term of 
years is not out till the First of April next come twelve 
months." " The answer from his Excellency and Hon*^ Coun- 
cil was, that tliis Town should be free from one Country Rate, 
which was the first general rate made in the Country by 
virtue of his Excellencies, our Hon'' Governor and Council's 
Order."* 

April 29, 16S9. "Upon an extraordinary occasion of the Colony send- 
ing to all Towns concerned, to send their Agents to Plymouth, for to 
consider what might most tend to the peace, settlement, and luiity of the 
Colony. And thereupon, the Town employed Capt. Nath. Byfield, and 
Lieuten't Stephen Burton, for the end above mentioned." 

Sir Edmund Andros had just been deposed, and the state 
of all Xew England was very unsettled. 

" By virtue of a Warrant from Gov. Hinckley, Dated at Plymouth, 
Octob. 17, 1089, for the proportion of this Town, towards a War Piate 
amounting to thirty-five pounds. At a Town Meeting, Nov. 8th, 1089, 
were chosen Mr. Stephen Burton, Will'm Thi'oop, and Serj't Cary, 
Raters for the Town, for this Rate." 

This was in tlie time of King William's War. Benjamin 
Churcli had been appointed Major and Commander-in-Chief 
of the forces of the United Colonies, and had gone on his 
first " Expedition to the Eastward." f 

Nov. 18, 1689. "John Corps, chosen Pound-keeper, and digger of 
Graves, likewise he is chosen Sweeper of Meeting-house, and Ringer of 
the Bell, and the Selectmen are to agree with him by the year." 

* It was the custom to exempt new settlements from taxation for seven years. 
+ See page 83. 



TOWN RECORDS OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY. 119 

Jan. IS, 1092. " Voted, that Widow Corps shall have three pounds 
for this year, it being for Ringing the Bell for Sabbath days, and Town 
Meetings, and also for Sweeping the Meeting house — the Year begin- 
ning Nov. ISth, 1091." 

Til 1692 the Colony of Plymouth was united to its younger 
sister of Massachusetts Bay. The first deputies to represent 
the town in the new government were John Saffin and Stephen 
Burton, chosen on the thirtieth day of May, 1G92. 

March 23, 1G93. It was voted that every town-meeting 
should begin and end with prayer. In tlie earlier years of 
the colony this had everywhere been done as a matter of 
course, and the fact that such a vote was necessary marks a 
great change in the character of the people. Jan. 5, 1694, it 
was voted, 

" That those that go away from a Town Meeting before said Meeting 
be discharged according to a former Town order by Prayer, shall forfeit 
and pay each man one shilling (for every such breach of order), to be 
added by the Rate-makers to their Town Rate, the account of them to be 
given in by the clerk." 

■'October 30th, 1093. At a Town Meeting it was Voted, that we 
would have in this Town a Market Day, with the several orders thereto 
belonging, which was signed by John Gary and Thomas Walker, 
Selectmen, and presented to, and approved by the Hon'ble Court of 
(^)uarter Sessions on Octob. 31st, the day immediately following. As 
Attests, John Gary, Clerk. 

"To all People, more especially to all our good friends and neighbors, 
to whom these presents shall come: The Inhabitants of the Town of 
Bristol send Greeting. 

" Know ye, that whereas it hath been sufficiently proved by long ex- 
perience in England and elsewhere: That Markets and Fairs have been 
of great utility and benefit, both to Town and Country, in divers 
respects, too large to be hei-e inserted — We the Inhabitants of the s'd 
Town having duly considered the premises, do take up a resolution, 
God willing, to make an essay therein, to which purpose, by virtue of 
the liberty granted us, with other Towns by the Hon'ble General 
Assembly, impowering us to make bye Laws, or Orders suitable to our 
state and condition, and amongst other orders, have made one to this 
effect, viz. 

" That no person or persons Inhabitant of the Town of Bristol, shall on 
any pretence whatsoever. Buy or purchase any provision or other things 
usually brought into the said Town to be sold, on any other day of the 
Week, save only upon Thursday (wliich we do hereby publish and 
declare to be our Market day) except what any one may Buy at tlie 
dwelling House or Farm of any living remote, on the penalty of forfeit- 



120 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

in<? the one half of the value of what is otherwise bought, to the use of 
the Town, not exceeding forty shillings, at one time, nor shall any xn-e- 
sume to forestall the Market, by buying anything upon the Road, or 
Highway coming to Market, on the like penalty. This order to com- 
mence and be in force on the next Thursday after the Fair at Bristol to 
be held in May next ensuing, that no person may plead Ignorance 
hereof. 

" This order was confirmed at their Majesties Court of Quarter Ses- 
sions, held at Bristol in October, 1693. As Attests, John Gary, for the 
County of Bristol. Licensed according to Order, Boston, December 3d, 
1693." 

" Yoted, June 26th, 1694, at a Town Meeting. Whereas the Inhabitants 
of this Town have upon mature consideration, hired a Shei)herd to keei> 
a general flock of Sheep on the Common, consisting of several particu- 
lars, for the mutual good and benefit of the whole, and that it is found 
very prejudicial, and inconvenient in divers respects, that there should 
be any private or particular flock, or flocks of Sheep kept also upon the 
Commons, especially between the South Creek by Mr. Walkers, and the 
North Highway that goes out at Thomas Burches Farm across the Neck, 
East and West — It is therefore ordered that no person or persons shall 
henceforth keep or cause to be kept, or fed upon the Commons or un- 
f enced Lands within the precincts, or bounds aforesaid, other than such 
as shall be put into the hands or custody of the Town Shepherd, to be kept 
and fed with the general, or Town flock of Sheep, under the penalty of Im- 
pounding and paying three pence per Sheep for every one so found upon 
the Common, and the Shepherd, Hayward, or any other person may take 
the benefit of the penalty, as the Law in like Cases directs. This above 
order is confirmed by the Quarter Sessions July 12th, 1694. Attests, 
John Cary, Clerk." 

At a meeting held March 23, 1696, it was voted, 

" That the Town now and henceforward from time to time shall choose 
a Moderator, to propose and manage things in the several Town Meetings 
as the Town shall have occasion." 

Until this time the magistrate holding the highest rank of 
those present had always presided at the meetings. Under 
this new rule Major Benjamin Church was the first to be 
chosen Moderator. 

May 23, 1696. " Some of the Town of Bristol lately having had a sight 
of the Grand Deed, granted by the General Court of Plymouth, to the 
Proprietors and Inhabitants of said Town, that tliey shall be free of 
Impost and Excise, and finding that by the Law of this Province, we 
are debarred of that privilege, which by Charter we find we are entitled 
unto, The Town therefore, having duly considered the premises, have 
at a Town Meeting legally warned, chosen Major John Walley, Captain 



TOWN RECORDS OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY. 121 

Nathaniel Byfiekl aud Mr. Ebeuezer Brinton, to inform the General 
Court of the same, and to manage that affair on their behalf, that so the 
Town may have their Privileges." 

It appears very strange that no attention should liave been 
called to this subject before, but it must be remembered that 
very few printed copies of deeds were made in those days — 
indeed the laws of Plymouth Colony were for a long time 
preserved only in manuscript form. In the succeeding Jan- 
uary a copy of the Deed was placed upon the town records. 

Action was again taken upon this subject in 1698. The 
efforts of the committee appointed to bring the matter before 
the General Court had not been sufficient to prevent further 
imposts, but the town was determined to maintain its rights, 
and voted that two persons should be chosen each year " to 
maintain and defend all the rights and privileges granted in 
the Deed." They were empowered to sue, arrest and implead 
" any person, or persons, who shall upon any pretence what- 
soever, trespass upon, molest or disturb any of the Inhabi- 
tants of said Town in the lawful use or improvement of any 
of the aforesaid privileges." This determined action had its 
effect, for in 1703 the town was desired by Governor Dud- 
ley to appoint men who should specially present its cause to 
the Governor and Council. For this purpose John Saffin, 
Esq., and Nathaniel Blagrove, Gentleman, were chosen. 
(The hand of Saffin is clearly visible in the whole matter.) 
The Governor and Council, having heard the arguments of 
Saffin and Blagrove, decided that the town was no longer 
entitled to exemption from imposts, excises and duties, as 
it had become a part of the Province of Massachusetts. In 
this opinion the House of Deputies did not concur, the cause 
of Bristol being ably presented by its two attorneys, and by 
John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, and Timothy Clarke of 
Boston. The question was finally settled by a decision of the 
Council, recorded a few days afterward : " The former part 
of the clause of privilege is expired aud determined, being to 
continue only during that Government ; the latter part, about 
the clearing of ships and entering ships, was, and is, contrary 
to divers Acts of Parliament." Aug. 27, 1703, a vote was 



122 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

passed by the town, thanking the three men above named, 
" for their services to the Town in asserting the privileges 
which belonged to it." 

March 0, 1G97. "Whereas Major John Walley and divers other Gen- 
tlemen, concerned in tlie settlement of Mount Hope (alias Bristol), 
did bind and oblige themselves by Certain Articles, the one to the other 
to do, perform and accomi^lish certain particular things in said Articles 
contained, that might be of use and benefit to the Inhabitants that 
should settle in said Town of Bristol. And whereas a good Gristmill 
was one thing promised in said Articles, and proi^osed as an encourage- 
ment by the Gentlemen to Inhabitants that should come in and settle 
in said Town, as a considerable privilege and advantage, the want of 
which hath been greatly prejudicial to the Inhabitants that come to 
settle in said Town &g 

"Therefore, we the Inhabitants of Bristol aforesaid, being legally 
warned and met together the Sixth day of March 1697, do unanimously 
vote and agree, that there be three men chosen as a Committee for and 
in behalf of the Town, to treat with the said Major Walley, and to 
make, or to accept of such reasonable propositions as shall be made 
for the recovery of our privileges in that respect, or by any other lawful 
way and means for the procuring of said privileges — and to prosecute 
the same to effect, for us the Inhabitants of Bristol, who shall be ready 
to give I'easonable consideration for their care and trouble. 

Mr. John Saffix 
The persons chosen as a Committee are Mk. Xath^ Blagrove 

Captain Sam^ Gallup " 

The inhabitants witliout donbt had g'-ounds for complaint 
in this matter. The grist-mill, built by Mr. Walley some 
years before, was at this time in such a dilapidated condition 
as to be almost useless, and the highway leading to it had 
been practically closed. But it is quite possible that Mr. 
Walley also had causes for complaint against the town. 
Certain it is that Mr. Saffin's undisguised animosity to 
Walley and Byfield greatly prejudiced the arbitrators against 
him when judicial action was finally had in the matter. 
Perhaps it injured the cause which he represented, for the 
final issue was favorable to Mr. Walley. 

From the very earliest days the records are full of orders 
like the three following : — 

March 20, 1705. " Voted, that no Geese shall henceforth go upon the 
Commons, Streets, Lanes, or Highways within this Town." 



TOWN RECORDS OF THE FIRST HxVLF- CENTURY. 123 

" Voted, that no Horse, nor Horse kind, shall go on the Common 
without being Fettered all the year, this Vote to begin on the first of 
April next." 

:>rarch 5, 1707. "Voted, that no Swine of any sort after the tenth of 
April next, shall be or Run at large on the Commons, or Highways 
within this Town of Bristol, upon the penalty of paying twelve pence 
per head for every Swine that shall be found and taken up, for the first 
year, and two shillings per head for the future, to be paid by the 
owner of such Swine to any person that shall so take them up, or Im- 
pound them." 

March 5, 1707. "Voted for the encouragement of Col. Byfield, his 
building a Mill, or Mills, in Bristol, for the grinding of all sorts of Grain, 
for the Towns use, that the said Mill, or Mills shall be Rate free to all or 
any publick Taxes, during the time of their being serviceable to the Town 
in that way; provided also that the said Mill, or Mills, be set up and fin- 
ished within the space of three years, and ujion or near the Pond, near 
to the House of Mr. Belarmy Bosworth in Bristol aforesaid." 

"Voted, that the Windmill now belonging to and in the possession of 
Mr. Thomas Walker in Bristol afores'd shall be forever Rate free to 
any publick Tax, so long as it shall remain a Corn Mill." 

Mr. Byfield had profited by his experience in the quarrel 
with Judge Saffin, as witness the following : — 

March 18, 1709. " Whereas Col. Byfield having formerly proposed the 
building of a Mill, or Mills, at or upon a certain Creek, near Belarmy 
Bosworth, at the same time the Town did Vote the s'd Mills to be free 
from all public Rates, j^rovided they were built within the space of three 
years next following, and be serviceable for the Towns use and benefit 
— It was now declared (at this Town Meeting, that the said Mills were 
built) by the s'd Col. Byfield, and desired that a minute thereof might 
be made and entered in the Town Book, which by the Town was allowed, 
and ordered accordingly." 

March 22, 1708. "Voted that every Enlisted Soldier within this Town 
shall be obliged to bring in to the Clerk of the Town twelve black birds 
heads by the tenth of June next, under the penalty of paying one shilling 
for the use of the Town and every person that shall (over and above his 
proportion) bring in any black birds heads, shall receive twelve pence for 
evei'y Dozen that shall be so brought in to the Clerk of the Town, who is 
desired to keep an account thereof ; luovided this order continue in 
force this year only and no longer. 

" Voted that every person who shall kill any Foxes, old or young, 
shall (for their encouragement therein) receive out of the Town Treas- 
ury, for every Old Fox twelve pence, and for every Young Fox, six 
pence." 

March 17, 1700. "Voted, that the order about black birds and foxes 
be revived and continued for one year more, with this addition, that 
the time for the bringing in of the s'd black birds shall be the last of 



124 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

June, and that the same order shall extend to the killing of blew Jawes, 
and that every Crow killed shall be 3d, if entered with the Clerk, and that 
12d shall be abated in the penalty of not bringing in a Dozen of blackbirds 
by the time, which if any shall wholly omit or refuse to do, the penalty, 
one shilling, shall be by the Assessors added to his Town Kate." 

March 10, 1710. " The order about foxes, black birds &c., voted to be 
continued another year." 

Ill 1711 the order was contiimed for another year. 

March 10, 1710. " Whereas it was voted in the General Town Meet- 
ing in March, three years past, as an encouragement to Colonel Nathan- 
iel Byfield to build one or more mills on his farm at Poppasquash, near 
the Town. That the said mills should be forever free from being valued 
in or to any rate or tax to the Province, Town or County, and the said 
Byfield, having built and finished two tide mills for grinding corn which 
do very well, but the tides are so small that they fall short of supplying 
the Town with Meal, which hath put the said Col. Byfield upon build- 
ing a Wind-mill near the same Water-mill, and for his encouragement 
to proceed in so good a work, It is Voted, That all the Grist mills built 
or to be built by the said Byfield upon the end of his farm next the 
Town known by the name of Poppasquash shall be forever free from 
paying to any Kate or Tax whatsoever." 

March 12, 1711. "John Liscomb chosen to ring the Bell and sweep 
the Meeting house and also to look after the Boys, to prevent their 
playing in time of Publick Worship on the Lord's day. 

The first birth recorded in the town records was that of 
Nathaniel, son of Richard and Joyce Smith, May 17, 1681, 
bnt tliis first child of Bristol parents was born upon the Island 
of Rhode Island, whither the mother had gone to obtain 
more comfortable quarters and better attendance, Bristol 
being at the time little more than a logging camp. " 1681, 
Hope, the son of John Corps and of Deliverance his wife,- 
was born November 8th, being the first English child born in 
this town." The first recorded marriage was that of William 
Corbet and Elener Batrop, Sept. 19, 1683, Captain Church 
being the officiating magistrate. " Benjamin Twing was 
drowned out of a canoe " Jan. 14, 1680-81, " in going from 
hence to Rhode Island and was not found," — the first death; 
and March 25, 1682, " was buried the wife of Caleb Lambert 
and her child, she dying in childbed." She was buried in 
the cemetery east of the Common, the first interment after 
the settlement of the town. 



Chapter xix. 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 
1680-1718. 



At the first meeting for the transaction of public business 
held after the organization of the town, it was voted that c£40 
should be rated towards building a house for the minister. 
In the first book of the town records, covering the period 
from the date of its organization to December, 1718, one hun- 
dred and ten of the votes passed related to the meeting-house 
or the minister. At first, religious questions were settled in 
town-meeting by the wliole body of the citizens, without any 
preliminary action by the church ; at last, meetings were 
called " For to have the Town's Concurrence with the Church's 
choice of a Minister." 

In the year 1680, just after the Deed had been granted, but 
before the settlement of the Mount Hope Lands had been 
fairly begun, Mr. Benjamin Woodbridge* was secured as the 



* Benjamin Woortbridg-e was a son of the Rev. John Woodbridge, the first pastor 
of the first church at Andover, Mass. His mother was the daughter of the Hon. 
Thomas Dudley. He was educated at Harvard College, but does not appear to have 
graduated from that institution, as his name is not given in the Triennial Cat- 
alogue. His two brothers, John and Timothy, were graduates of Harvard, and 
were also ministers. Mr. Woodbridge was ordained over the " Presbyterian Party," 
in Winsor, Conn., March 18, 16T(i, and after a ministry of about ten years, came to 
Bristol. Shortly after his withdrawal from this town, he was settled in Kittery, 

Maine. 

" In 1691, he resided in Portsmouth, N. H. In 1698, he was living in Charlestown, 
Mass., and was employed by the town of Medford to preach for six months, pro- 
vision being made for conveyance from his home to Medford every Saturday, and 
return every Monday. His preaching was so generally acceptable that movements 
were made to give iiim a call, but matters were not hastened, and, at lengtli, diffi- 
culties arose which prevented his settlement. He was, however, an.vious to settle, 



126 HISTORY OF BRISTOL, 

first minister. Mr. Woodbridge moved with liis family to the 
little town at an early date, and continned to reside in Bristol 
as its minister for about six years. During his residence 
the first meeting-house was built, but no church was organ- 
ized. The first religious services were held in the honse of 
Deacon Nathaniel Bosworth. (See page 103.) Afterward, 
and until the completion of the meeting-house, public worship 
was conducted in the town house of Nathaniel Byfield, and 
rooms for Mr. Woodbridge and his family were secured in 
the same building.* At first no salary was guaranteed to the 
minister, but his house- rent and fuel were provided for by the 
town, and various " Rates," adapted to the pecuniary ability 
of the people and the apparent needs of his family, were im- 
posed from time to time. The question of salary was the 
cause of much dissension, and eventually caused the with- 
drawal of Mr. Woodbridge from the town. 

"Nov. 29tb, 1684, it was voted that Mr. Woodbridge's salary for this 
year be made up to Eighty iiounds as Money, — and for the next year 
to be made up Ninety pounds as Money, — and for the year 1680 to be 
made up as a Hundred pounds as Money, and the same for each year to 
be yearly made up, discounting of each year so much as shall be con- 
tributed by strangers; and the Hundred per annum to continue until 
the time that, by agreement of the Court of Plymouth, the Town is 
to pay towai'd the Colony charge, and then to come to such further set- 
tlement with Mr. Woodbridge as may be according to the ability of the 

and persisted in acting as the town's minister, contrary to the adv^ice of a council 
of clergymen and elders from Boston, and in spite of votes of the town, in 1704, 
' that what they had done about Mr. W.'s settlement be null and void,' and in 1705, 
'that they would not proceed to settle Mr. W. as their minister.' With a few 
earnest friends he attempted to gather a church ' contrary to the advice of the 
Elders in that neighborhood, without advice or respect of the inhabitants of the 
town, and without the countenance and concurrence of the neighboring churches.' 
This highly irregular attempt was met by an earnest pi-otest from the town. Ap- 
peals were then made to the General Sessions of the Peace, at Charlestown, and to 
Governor Dudley and his Council, both of which were decided advei-seiy to the 
claims and course of Mr. Woodbridge. Finallj' the case was referred to a council 
of churches, who censured both parties, and advised the quiet withdrawal of Mr. 
W. The advice was not followed, however, and Mr. AVoodbridge continued to 
preach initil his death, Jan. 1.5, 1710, after a residence of nearly ten years, aged 65 
years ; and on the same daj-, with commendable promptitude and just liberality, 
the town voted £10 to defray the expenses of his funeral, — an act which proves 
that they would not let the sun go down upon their animosity."— FroHi Broohs' His- 
toru of Meclford, quoted in Rev. Mr. Lane's Manual of Fiist Church in Bristol. 
* See page 107. 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 127 

Town, whether it be more or less, and for the raising of the sum yearly 
for Mr. Woodbridge, it is to be by contribution, if what they contribute 
be not less than their proportion according to such rides as are hereafter 
set down, and such as contribute short, or not at all, to be Rated by the 
Selectmen, and gathered by the Constable Each year." 

This vote caused much bitter discussion, and on the 9tli 
of December was made null and void, and the following pro- 
posal of Mr. WoodI:)ridgc was adopted : — 

"To the Inhabitants of the Town of Bristol: Understanding there 
hath been some difference and disturbance among you respecting my 
maintenance, iu order to your satisfaction and more comfortable unit- 
ing in that affair and that it may be always settled in a peaceable way, I 
do propose that from the twenty-fifth day of April next, and so onward 
during my continuance, I will take up with a free and weekly Contribu- 
tion, Provided, if it doth not amount to sixty pounds per annum, the 
Town forthwith to make it up and if ever it come to above an hundred 
per annum the overplus to be at their dispose, and this, notwithstand- 
ing my former agreement by me, or Vote by yourselves shall wholly 
answer my expectations from the Town. 

December 4th, 16S4. Benj: Woodciudge." 

At the same meeting it was also 

"Agreed that if any Inhabitant shall altogether neglect or be very 
remiss, or give very inconsiderable according to their Estate, or fails to 
the Ministers maintenance, it shall be at the liberty of the Eaters, with 
the advice and consent of the Select Men or major part, to Rate such 
persons to other Town Charges according to their discretion." 

Mr. Woodbridge was evidently anxious to effect a perma- 
nent settlement, but while a large i)ortion of the inhabitants 
had been glad to avail themselves of his services for a time, 
it is plain that after they had enjoyed his ministration for a 
year or two the idea of settling him as their pastor had 
become distasteful to the leading men of the place. He seems 
to have been a fairly acceptable preacher, but was most indis- 
creet in temporal affairs, giving his opponents many oppor- 
tunities to censure him for unwise and inconsiderate conduct. 
The sul)ject was finally brought before the town. May 17, 
1686. " It was propounded whether any persons were against 
Mr. Woodbridge, his return again hither, and to settle with 
us as our Minister." Eleven men voted against his settle- 



128 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

meiit ; between tvreiity and thirty votes were o-iven in his 
favor. Many of the votes cast for him were given by men 
who were known to be opposed to his settlement, but wlio 
were yet unwilling to seem to vote for his dismissal. 

Even after this strong expression of opinion, Mr. Wood- 
bridge was not wise enough to withdraw from the contest. 
On the 28th of June, 1686, John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, 
Nathaniel Reynolds, Nathaniel Bosworth, John Gary, and 
Hugh Woodbury, all leading men of the town, " for 
themselves and in behalf of sundry others," united in a letter 
to the Rev. Increase Mather, and the church in Boston, ask- 
ing that a council to consider the whole matter might be 
called for the third Wednesday of July. It is probable that 
this decided action convinced Mr. Woodbridge of the hope- 
lessness of his cause, and that it w^as followed by his with- 
drawal, for there is no record to show that the council was 
ever held. 

Oct. 24, 1683, at a meeting of the town, =£250 were or- 
dered to be raised to defray the expense of building a meet- 
ing-house, and John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Benjamin 
Church, John Gary, and John Rogers were appointed a com- 
mittee to superintend its erection. In the succeeding year 
the house was built on the spot w^here the Gourt House now 
stands. No records have been preserved of its exact dimen- 
sions. Various writers have described it as spacious and well 
constructed, square in form, with double galleries, one above 
the other. It was clapboarded inside and out ; its cap-roof 
was surmounted in the centre by a bell tower, within which, 
in 1692, was hung the bell which Mr. Oliver, some years 
before, had presented for the use of the town. The bell-rope 
hung directly down from the belfry to the centre of the church, 
and rendered Goody Gorps a very conspicuous person, when, 
after the death of her husband, the sexton, " she used to ring 
the people to church for three pounds a year, as her lamented 
husband had done ere he died." Over the preacher's head 
was a dormer window (the records speak of it as " the Dor- 
man or Luthorn window "), and on each of the four sides were 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 



129 




Residence of Capt. John Collins. 

double rows of windows, so the building was well lighted. 
The money appropriated by the town did not suffice to finish 
the interior of the meeting-house, and so by vote of the cit- 
izens, various individuals were permitted to construct pews 
upon the floor at their own expense. This license, in time, 
caused much trouble, as men did not always consult the pub- 
lic convenience when they selected a place for a pew, and 
many votes relating to the subject appear upon the town 
records. The pews were usually square, with oaken doors,* 
" through the rounds of which the children used to peep at 
each other, when the people rose for prayer and praise." 
Many years elapsed before the floor of the building was 
entirely covered with pews, but the large galleries always af- 



* The door of the pastor's pew is still preserved as a precious relic of the past, 
in the Congregational church, on High Street. 
9 



130 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

forded ample seating room. Separate galleries were provided 
for the women, — our modern method of seating the worship- 
ers in church would have appeared most unseemly to our 
rigidly decorous ancestors. After a hundred years of service, 
some of the rafters of the old meeting-house were transferred 
to the second house of worship, when the first building was 
pulled down, and venturesome enthusiasts may still inspect 
them in the roof of the present town hall. The timber for 
the building was cut from the adjacent common. Tradition 
says that a boy sent from the house of Jabez Howland on 
Hope Street (Capt. John Collins' house stands next south of ' 
the lot on which the house stood), with the dinner for some of 
the workmen, failed to make his appearance at the expected 
time, whereupon work was suspended, and after much search 
he was found wandering bewildered in the dense forest not far 
from Mr. Rowland's house. 

When Mr. Woodbridge withdrew, Bristol had become the 
most important and flourishing town in the Plymouth Colony, 
and the necessity for sending thither some man of command- 
ing ability, to heal the wounds caused by the unwise conduct 
of the late minister, and to build up a strong church in the 
rising town, was apparent to all. The Rev. Samuel Lee, an 
English dissenting clergyman, esteemed a man of profound 
learning and remarkable eloquence, had just landed in Boston, 
and to him the eyes of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay 
turned as to the man most fitted for the place. At the sug- 
gestion of friends in Boston, Mr. Lee visited Bristol, and was 
received with great enthusiasm by its inhabitants. At a town- 
meeting held Nov. 9, 1686, it was 

" Voted and agreed, by a full vote and unanimous Consent, to call the 
Rev. Samuel Lee to the work of the Ministry in this Town, which was 
accordingly done by the whole that were present at the Town Meeting,- 
waiting on him at Mr. Byfield's, where one appointed manifested their 
invitation to him and he took it into consideration." 

The town voted £60 per year for his salary, and X50 
towards building him a house. He accepted the call, and 
began his labors April 10, 1687. 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 131 

On tlie od of May, 1687, the cliuich was organized iji due 
form, by the mutual consent and agreement of tlie eight men 
wliose names follow. At its organization, and for many years 
afterward, it was known as "The Church of Christ in Bris- 
tol." Nathaniel Bosworth and John Cary were the first dea- 
cons. The original members were Maj. John Walley, Capt. 
Nathaniel Byfield, Capt. Benjamin Church, Nathaniel Rey- 
nolds, John Cary, Hugh Woodbury, Goodman Throop, and 
Nathaniel Bosworth. 

j^anmel Lee was the son of Samuel Lee, a wealthy citizen- 
of London, and was born in 1625. From his boyhood he 
manifested a great fondness for books, and the ample means 
of his father enabled him to gratify his literary tastes to their 
fullest extent. He was educated at the famous St. Paul's 
School, and at Wadham College, Oxford. He took the degree 
of Master of Arts at Wadham in 1648, and was soon after a 
Fellow of the same college. Li 1656, he was made a Proctor 
in the University of Oxford. For several years he was the 
minister of an Independent church at Newington Green, near 
Bishopsgate. London. It is said that he was offered a living 
in the Established Church, which he rejected on account of 
his strong sympathy with the Non-Conformists. In 1686, in 
order that he might more freely exercise his office in the min- 
istry in accordance with his own sense of duty, he emigrated 
to New England, arriving at Boston in June of that year. 

Very soon after his settlement in Bristol, Mr. Lee began to 
build his house. He had inherited all of his father's large es- 
tate, and probably possessed greater wealth than any other 
citizen of the town. The house which he erected was built 
in the old English style, and was one of the finest mansions 
in New England, at the time of its completion. It stood on the 
site of the present store-house of the Usher Brothers, a little 
back from Thames Street, on tlie east side. It was two stories 
high, with a gambrel roof ; it had also a " lean-to." A very 
wide staircase, with steps which were only four inches high, 
was one of the principal features of the house. In the early 
part of the present century, this house was always spoken of 



132 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

as "The Old Bay State," but why this name was given to it 
cannot now be ascertained. In its last years, this home of 
the first pastor was used as a sailor boarding-house. It was 
torn down more than sixty years ago, and the only relic 
of it now remaining, is a small pane of glass in the posses- 
sion of Mrs. Robert Rogers, on which is inscribed the name 
of Martha Finney.* 

Mr. Lee's stay in Bristol was brief. Amid the privations 
and the discomforts of a life in rude New England, he sighed 
for the ease and scholarly retirement which had fallen to his 
lot in his native land. Upon the accession of King William, 
who was supposed to favor greater privileges for the Dissent- 
ers, he determined to return to England. Accordingly, in 
1691, he left his post in Bristol, and with his family embarked 
at Boston on tlie ship " Dolphin." After a stormy voyage, 
the vessel was captured by a French privateer, near the coast 
of Ireland, and its passengers were carried into St. Maloes, in 
France. His family were allowed to proceed thence to Lon- 
don, but he was detained a prisoner. The hardships of a 
long voyage in the winter season, disappointment, anxiety, 
and confinement, combined to bring on a violent attack of the 
prison fever, from the effects of which he died in prison, in 
December, 1691. As a heretic, he was buried outside the 
walls of the town. 

Of Mr. Lee, nearly all his contemporaries speak in terms 
of the highest commendation. Cotton Mather calls him " the 
light of both Englands." President Stiles says, " He was the 
light and glory of the Church in Bristol, and one of the most 
learned divines in Christendom." " Allen " says, " He spoke 
Latin with elegance, was a master of Physic and Chemistry, 
and well versed in all the liberal Arts and Sciences." His 
published works are contained in some dozen volumes. f 

* The house was for many years the home of Jeremiah Finney and his son 
Josiah, and ail the children of the latter were born in it. Martha Finney and her 
sister, the wife of the late Mr. William DeWolf, in their youth occupied the study 
in which Mr. Lee had thought and written. The first two of Mr. Do Wolf's children 
wei'e also born in it. 

+ At one time Mr. Lee was much interested in the study of Astrology, and col- 
lected a hundred or more volumes upon the subject. These he afterward burned, 
having become convinced of the dangerous tendencies of the science. 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 133 

The ministry of Mr. Lee, though brief, was yet very success- 
ful ; tlie church was greatly strengthened, and harmony was 
. restored between its members. For four years after his 
departure, the town was without any settled pastor, the pul- 
pit being supplied by various ministers, at fifteen shillings per 
week. In July, 1693, a call was extended to the Rev. John 
Sparhawk.* A salary of £60 per annum was offered him, 
with X5 a year additional for fire-wood (XIO for fire-wood as 
soon as he should have a family), and the improvement of the 
ministry lands. The call was accepted, and on the 6th of 

The sermonsof this learned divine, wliich were so hig-hly praised at the begin- 
ning- of the hist century, would hai'dly receive the same commendation if pro- 
nounced to-day from a modern pulpit. Their extravagant style and strained 
metaphors would bo somewhat distasteful to the practical minds of the nineteenth 
century. The following specimen is taken from " The Joy of Faith " : — 

" Let the world rage in storms of contradiction, and like him in Laertius, aflBrm 
snow to be black, or assert the sun shines not when I see it, or a cordial comforts 
not when I feel it, or that a troubled conscience is but a melancholy fancy, when 
the terrors of the Lord drink up the spirits of men. These should be sent to 
Anticyra to purge with Hellebor for nuidness. Pray what energy or power can be 
in a printed paper, in the reading of a chapter wherewith Austin and Junius were 
convci-ted from sin to God, or what powerful charm in hearing a mean Preacher, 
perhaps none of the Learnedest, like the blessed Fishermen of Galilee, to change 
the heart ; if so many proud, haughty, and rebellious sinners who of direful perse- 
cutors have sometimes turned tender cherishers and protectors of the Church of 
God ! were it not for the tire of the Word of the Lord of Hosts, that melts the 
stone of the heart, and the hammer of that Word that breaks the sturdy Zauzum- 
mins all to powder ; insomuch that bitter scoffers have been changed into witty 
Tertullians and turned their satires into panegyricks. What can that be imagined to 
be that works so strange effects upon whole nations from the East to the Western 
Indies, whitened the Blackmoors, civilized the hearts of Scythians more ragged and 
bi'utish than the Rocks and Hyrcanian Tygers that gave them suck, and beautified 
the barbarously painted Britains far beyond the oratory of the Gaules. It could 
be no other power than the awful dread of the Divine Majesty, and the melting 
sweetness of his Mercy concomitant with his heavenly Word." 

The authorship of this address to King William, written for the Plymouth Gov- 
ernment, is ascribed to him : — 

" We humbly beg your Excellent Majesty, that you would indulge this first 
plantation of our dear Lord in New England's Plymouth, within the garden of 
your royal bosom, to protect and amplify our pri\ileges, according as your 
sagacious wisdom and tender love may judge mete, upon our further addresses to 
your Majesty, in any further particular requests, and we shall most devoutly and 
humblj' supplicate the great ( Jod of Heaven, to give your Majesty the grand march 
of honor, to be successful in all what your Majesty hath been pleased to design to 
undertake for the reformed cause throughout the world, that under Christ, you 
may not only, like atiother Augustus, dilate your Empire to the Eastern, but that 
both the Indies may be enriched with such diamonds and spices, that are the orna- 
ments of the Celestial Jerusalem, under your prosperous and heaven directed 
conduct." 

* Mr. Sparhawk was born in 1673, and graduated from Harvard in the class of 
1689. No record of his ancestry has been preserved. 



134 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

October Mr. Sparhawk began his labors in the town. After 
a year's trial the following vote was passed, and on the 12th 
of Jnne, 1695, he was installed as the second pastor of the 
church : — 

" We the Inhabitants of the Town of Bristol, being met together this 
19th day of September, 1694, do for the maintaining of the Public Wor- 
ship of God amongst us, and for the Love and Honor we bear to the 
Rev'd Mr. John Sparhawk, and hopes of speedy settlement by him, 
and for the putting a full and final stop to any further discourse relat- 
ing to Strangers contribution as an overplush to the Minister (here with 
us) do agree upon the consideration above said, and do hereby promise, 
to pay to the said Mr. Sparhawk by Weekly Contribution or other ways 
within the year, the sum of seventy pounds per annum whilst he remains 
a single man, and eighty pounds by the year, when he comes to keep a 
Family, and this we promise during his continuance in the Woi'k of the 
Ministry with us." 

For almost twenty-three years Mr. Sparhawk served the 
church in Bristol as its pastor. He did not possess the deep 
learning of his predecessor, but he was yet an excellent 
preacher, conscientious, hard-working, and entirely devoted 
to the spiritual interests of his flock. The Rev. Mr. Burt, 
twenty years after his death, testified that his name still 
" remained exceedingly dear and precious to his people." He 
died on the 29th of April, 1718, and was buried upon tlie 
Common, in the cemetery close by the church. His tombstone 
has since been placed upon the green, just outside the south- 
ern wall of the present church edifice. 



Chapter xx. 



THE McSPARRAN DIFFICULTY. 

Mr. Sparhawk died in the happy consciousness tliat liis 
work in Bristol had been most blessed. As a result of his 
faithful and untiring labors, a strong congregation had been 
gatliered together. No dissensions for many years had dis- 
turbed its harmony, and a prosperous future seemed to await 
tlie church. Could he have known that a bitter controversy 
was to divide the town, almost before the turf was green 
upon his grave, that for years a fierce discussion was to be 
carried on, and that a quarter of a century afterwards an 
angry fire would gleam in the eyes of men, whenever the 
name of the man who was called to be his successor was 
spoken of, how much less tranquil would have been the last 
moments of the dying pastor ! 

In June, 1718, Mr. JameS McSparran, a young man born 
in Ireland,* of Scotch parents, bearing the credentials of a 
licentiate of the Presbytery in Scotland, landed in the chief 
town of New England. Shortly after his arrival in Boston 
he came to Bristol to visit a relative, the Widow Pampelion,f 
who lived at the corner of State and Hope streets. Tiie 
clmrch had, a short time before, extended a call to Mr. 
Samuel Checkley, of Boston, and had just received a letter 
from him declining to become its pastor. The pulpit was 
vacant, and the young Irishman was invited to preach in the 

* At iJungiven, Couiitj' of Deny. 

+ Th(' name is sometimes spelled Papilio and PapiUion upon the Town Records. 
The family \s'as probably of Hufjuenot origin. 



136 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

meeting-house on the Sunday after he reached Bristol. Mr. 
McSparran possessed, in an unusual degree, the remarkable 
eloquence with which so many of the children of Ireland have 
been endowed, and his wonderful oratory made such a deep 
impression upon the minds of his hearers, that at a church- 
meeting held on the 16th of December, 1718, he was invited 
to settle in the town as its pastor. On the 22d of December 
the town concurred in the church's choice, seventy-three 
votes being cast for Mr. McSparran, and but three against 
him. A salary of XlOO per annum was voted him, and ,£100 
was voted toward the expenses of his settlement. The town 
had increased in wealth and population, and no objection was 
raised against the payment of this salary, which was so much 
larger than that which Mr. Sparhawk had received. 

"The choice of this McSparran," says the Rev. Mr. Burt, 
" opened the door to all manner of confusion and disorder. 
Several scandalous immoralities were soon after reported of 
him. Dr. Mather, of Boston, and other ministers wrote to 
the church, by no means to settle him. But the affections 
of many towards him for his excellent oratory rendered them 
slow to believe anything to his disadvantage, whilst others 
were as implacably set against him. Two days were set apart 
for his ordination, but the ministers sent for would not lay 
hands on such a man to separate him to the work of the Min- 
istry. But he, being fond of a settlement, and hoping to pre- 
vail with the church, offered to submit to lay ordination." 

No record has been preserved of the charges made against 
Mr. McSparran. It must be borne in mind that he had scarcely 
been six months in the country when Dr. Mather wrote to 
the church in Bristol concerning him, and tliat his conduct 
in Bristol had been above reproach. Nothing but " unguarded 
conversation" was ever charged against his life in this town. 
The fact that these charges were brought forward in the first 
instance by the Rev. Mr. Mather, gives us good ground for 
believing that they were grossly exaggerated. Perhaps the 
high-spirited young Irishman had declined to yield to the im- 
perious will of the all-powerful Doctor. The history of Mas- 



THE MuSPARRAN DIFFICULTY. 137 

sacliusetts shows that Mr. Mather was, throughout his wliole 
life, a most bitter partisan, and that he often allowed per- 
sonal prejudices to warp his judgment and influence his actions. 
It is possible that there were some grounds for the accusa- 
tions, and the ready acknowledgment by Mr. McSparran of 
'• unguarded conversation," sliows that he was not always tem- 
perate in his efforts to refute the charges. The air which he 
had breathed in his infancy may have inclined him to rush with 
unthinking vehemence into the controversies which awaited 
him on his arrival in America, but a long and useful and blame- 
less life in the " Narragansett Country," shows that his bitter 
experiences in Bristol had acted like a refiner's fire in burning 
away the imperfections wdiich clouded his early career. His 
humble deportment under most distressing circumstances, 
and his earnest desire to be reconciled to the church, won the 
hearts of all his congregation, and made tliem eager to forget 
the shameful reports which had been spread. 

The charges were thoroughly investigated, committees being 
sent to the towns in which the alleged misconduct was said to 
have been committed. Tlie results were very favorable to 
Mr. McSparran, and on the 2.5th of May, 1719, this minute 
was adopted by the town : — 

" The accounts lately received from Barnstable and Ply- 
mouth in favor of the Reverend Mr. James McSparran, being 
read in public Town Meeting, together with our own experi- 
ence of his good conversation during his abode in this Town, 
and his humble Christian deportment under the present 
afflictive Providence, with his ready acknowledgment of his 
unguarded conversation in times past, with his earnest 
desire under his hand whicii hath been now read, to be recon- 
ciled to the Church of Christ, demand our Christian com- 
passion in the exercise of that fervent charity which covers 
the multitude of sins. We do in duty, as well as affection, 
declare our hearty forgiveness of all his past miscarriages 
and that we do receive him as our Brother in the Lord, 
humbly depending upon the boundless mercy and compassion 
of our most gracious God throuoh tlie merits of our blessed 



138 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, for pardon and acceptance. 
"We most earnestly desire tliat all Christian Peo}»le referring 
to this our dear and Rev"^ Brother, Mr. James McSparran, 
would put on charity wliich is the bond of perfectness and 
all these scandalous reports that have been spread abroad 
will, as they ought, be buried in oblivion." 

" The above writing being distinctly read in the Town 
Meeting, and people being asked whether they had any 
objection against it or any part of it, it was unanimously 
voted in the affirmative as the mind of the Town, no one 
objecting after the vote was called, except Col. Paine. 

Attest: Samuel Howland, Town Clerk."" 

This action appears to have given universal satisfaction ; 
harmony seemed completely restored, and arrangements were 
made to call a council for Mr. McSparran's ordination on 
the 22d of October. But his enemies outside the town were 
by no means inclined to let the matter drop. Before the 
■appointed day came, a report that his credentials were 
fraudulent was spread abroad, and the controversy was 
renewed with greater bitterness. Mr. McSparran at once 
proposed : First, To withdraw entirely from the town, if 
the church would grant him an honorable dismission, " with 
such testimonials as the law of love and duty will suggest 
his due or not;" or, Second, To go to Ireland to procure a 
confirmation of the truth of his credentials, and to return 
the following June to resume his work, if the testimonials 
should be satisfactory. Oct. 13, 1719, the church voted his 
dismission, " but was unwilling to be under a promise of 
staying for his return." This action having been submitted 
to the town for concurrence, the town voted not to concur, 
and adopted instead this vote : " Voted that Leave is given 
by the Town to Mr. James McSparran, our present Minister, 
to take a voyage to L*eland, in order to procure a confirma- 
tion of his credentials, the truth of which being by some 
questioned ; and that he return to us again sometime in June 
next ensuing, and proceed in the work of the Ministry 



THE McSPARRAN DIFFICULTY. 139 

with as, if he procure tlie confirmation of tlie aforesaid 
credentials." 

On the 20th of June the town had heard nothing from the 
absent minister, and voted to await his return until the fol- 
lowing September, but Mr. McSparran never came back to 
the Congregational Church. Either upon the long voyage or 
while he was in England, a change came over his Ecclesias- 
tical views (perhaps the treatment which he had received at 
the hands of the Massachusetts ministers may have led him 
to question the truth of the religious dogmas which they 
held) ; on the 21st of August, 1720, he was admitted to 
Deacon's Orders in the Church of England by the Bishop of 
London ; on the 25th of September was advanced to the 
Priesthood by the Archbishop of Canterbury ; on the 23d 
of October was commissioned a missionary for the Province 
of New England, and shortly after re-crossed the Atlantic, as 
the missionary of " The Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts," " to Narragansett in New England, 
who is to officiate as opportunity shall offer at Bristol, Free- 
town, Swansey, and Little Compton, where there are many 
people, members of the Church of England, destitute of a 
Minister."* 

The result of this action of Mr. McSparran was the forma- 
tion of a parish of the Church of England in this town. 
The people who had clung to him so closely in his time of 
trial were naturally influenced by his subsequent conduct. 
The establishment of St. Michael's Church through his 
instrumentality of course made his opponents still more 
bitter against him, and the peculiar circumstances of the 
case made the relations between the Congregationalists and 



* Mr. McSparran was educated at the University of Glasgow, and was made a 
Master of Arts bj- that institution in 1709. In 1731 he was honored with the degree 
of Doctor of Sacred Theology by the University of Oxford. He was the missionary 
of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and Rector of St. 
Paul's Church, Narragansett, from 17:J1 until his death, in 1757. In 1868, by author- 
ity of the Diocese of Rhode Island, a monument was erected to his memory, in the 
old churchyard at North Kingstown. In the Cabinet of the Rhode Island Histori- 
cal Society, at Providence, excellent portraits of him and of his wife are still 
preserved. 



140 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

the Episcopalians more unpleasant than they otherwise would 
have been. Mr. Burt says of Nathaniel Cotton, the third 
pastor of the Congregational Church, who was ordained to 
the post in 1721, that he " went through a world of trouble 
with the Church party," and the town records contain many 
protests from the Church of England men, against what they 
deemed the unjust and intolerant actions of the Congregation- 
alists. The influence of the greater liberality in regard to 
religious matters which prevailed in the neighboring State 
of Rhode Island, in time made itself felt, and caused both 
parties to be more moderate in their views and actions than 
were the inhabitants of the other towns of Massachusetts, 
and the annexation of the town to Rhode Island, a quar- 
ter of a century afterward, put a stop forever to religious 
intolerance. 



Chapter xxi. 



ST. MICHAELS CHURCH. 

From the Founding of the Parish, in 1721, to the Death of the 
Rev. John Usher, Jr., in 1804. 

The first services of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
this town were conducted by laymen, in the early part of 
the eighteenth century, in the house of Mr. William Walker. 
Mr. Walker's dwelling stood between High and Wood streets, 
a little north of the road which skirts the head of Walker's 
Cove.* 

Among the early settlers there were, without doubt, some 
men who were strongly attached to the Church of England 
and her services, and the movements which finally resulted 
in tlie formation of St. Michael's Parish were probably begun 
several years before Mr. ^McSparran came to the town. The 
events which followed his coming made the establishment 
of the parish more easy, but did not by any means suggest it. 

Sixteen years before the McSparran difficulties, Mr Keith, 
a missionary of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts, sent to ascertain the spiritual needs of the 
North American Colonies, liad carried back to England a 
petition from the inhabitants of Swansey and parts adjoining, 
for the establishment of a Mission of the English Church in 

* The stones of the old graveyard of the Walker family still remain, not far 
away from where the house once stood. The oldest grave is that of " lohn y sou 
of Thomas and Elizabeth Walker— who dyed May the ;W 17 IP, aged 34 years. " Ou 
the stone at its foot is this inscription: " Hee was furst born of this race, and 
f urst buried in this place " Thomas Walker, one of the first settlers, who died 
Aug. 7, 1724, in the seventieth year of his age, also lies in the same place. 



142 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

that town ; in this petition some of the inhabitants of Bristol 
had probably joined. 

It is hardly probable that Mr. McSparran had much to do 
with the organization of the mission in this town. His let- 
ters show that he must have been present at some of the 
earlier meetings, and that the treatment which he received 
at the hands of many of his old congregation was such as to 
discourage him from further action. The records of the 
Propagation Society show that in the year 1720, letters had 
been received by the Bishop of London, from men prominent 
in Bristol, appealing for a Church of England minister, and 
promising to build a church. Before an answer to thi& 
appeal had been received, measures were taken to erect the 
building. Col. Henry Mackintosh gave the land and <£200 
in money, ,£100 were contributed from Boston, <£100 also 
from Newport, and smaller sums came from other towns. 
Nearly £1,000 were raised in this place, which shows that 
much interest was felt and that many were concerned in the 
matter. 

In the year 1721 the Rev. James Orem was sent over as 
the first minister, with a salary from the society of X60 per 
annum. He found the church building unfinished ; the ex- 
terior and the steeple were completed, but the floor was not 
laid and the walls were not plastered. The church was a 
handsome wooden building, sixty feet long and forty feet 
wide. It stood on the same lot on which stands the present 
church edifice. Such was the zeal of the congregation, that 
on the Saturday following his arrival a temporary floor was 
laid, benches and chairs were provided, and on the next day 
between two and three hundred people, not only from Bristol^ 
but also from Swansey, Tiverton, and other neighboring 
towns, gathered for the service. The building was finished 
very shortly after, and Mr. Orem reported to the society in 
England that the inhabitants had expended over X 1,500 upon 
it, and that the congregation which gathered each Sunday 
within its walls was very large, much interest being mani- 
fested in the church. 



ST. Michael's church. 143 

Mr. Orem's stay in liristol was short. He was a man of 
mnch ability, of pleasing address, and well qualified for build- 
ing up the parish. Ilis success seems to have been mucli 
greater than he had anticipated, but the fierce passions which 
had been called into life by the McSparran controversy had 
by no means subsided, and the policy pursued by the leading 
religious body was not a liberal one. In the Narragansett 
Church Records this item appears : " In Bristol, New Eng- 
land, Feb 5 1722-3 were imprisoned twelve men of the 
Church of England, for refusing to pay towards the support 
of the Presbyterian teacher there, viz : Mr. Nathaniel Cotton. 
— Mr. McSparran being sent for to visit the gentlemen afore- 
said in prison, and in Mr. Orem's absence, preached in Bris- 
tol Church, Feb 10th." Mr. Orem had gone to Boston to 
present the case to the governor of the Province, as the fol- 
lowing extract from the Neiv England Courant of Fel). 11, 
1723, shows. (The Courant was the first paper issued by 
Benjamin Franklin) : — 

" Boston Feb 11. Last week the Reverend Mr. Orum, 
Minister of the Episcopal Church at Bristol, came from 
thence with a Petition from twelve of his hearers, (who are 
imprisoned for refusing to pay Rates to the Presbyterian 
Minister of Bristol) to the Lieut. Governor, who, with the 
advice of the Council, promised Mr. Orum to use his interest 
for their relief at the next meeting of the General Assembly, 
the men being imprisoned by Vertue of the Laws of the 
Province." 

The Narragansett Records also show that at a meeting of 
the Vestry, April 4, 1723, a letter from Mr. McSparran to 
the Lord Bishop of London, " begging that he would espouse 
the cause of the Church of England, at Bristol, where the 
Dissenters have lately imprisoned twenty persons, and dis- 
trained upon the estates of several other churchmen for the 
payment of the rate to support their teacher, Mr. Nathaniel 
Cotton, was read and concurred in, and subscribed by all 
present." In the succeeding March, three gentlemen of 
Rehoboth were imprisoned at Bristol for refusing to con- 



144 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

tribute towards the support of the Presbyterian minister in 
Rehoboth. Ineffectual protests of this nature continued to 
be made by the Church of England men, even until 1744, 
wlien a more liberal policy was adopted. 

The fact that this contest was continued for so long a 
time, shows that it must from tlie first have been a very 
bitter one. Perhaps it was on this account that Mr. Oram 
chose so soon to sever his connection witli this town. The 
letter which he wrote for the three Congregational ministers 
of Connecticut (the Rev. Dr. Cutler, President of Yale Col- 
lege, Rev. Daniel Brown, Tutor, and the Rev. Dr. Samuel 
Johnson), who had decided to take orders in the Church of 
England, and had gone to England for that purpose, show^s 
that he had a very keen sense of the wrongs and indignities 
which had been heaped upon them by their late associates, 
and that he despised the narrow-minded bigotry which could 
descend to such persecutions. In a little more tlian a year 
after his coming to America, Mr. Orem was offered a chap- 
laincy on one of His Majesty's ships of war, stationed at New 
York. This he accepted, and went to live in a place much 
more suited to his tastes than was the quiet Massachusetts 
town. The Rev. Daniel Browne, whose name has lately 
been mentioned, was designated by the Propagation Society 
as his successor, but was stricken with small-pox a few days 
after his ordination in England, and died in a very short 
time. 

In the year 1723 the Rev. John Usher was sent by the 
society as the second missionary to the struggling church. 
Mr. Usher was the son of Lieutenant-Governor Usher,* of 
New Hampshire. He was a graduate of Harvard College, 
in the class of 1719, and had gone to England for his ordina- 
tion. He was for a short time the missionary at St. George's, 
South Carolina, but almost all of his long and useful life 
was spent in this town. The rectorship of Mr. Usher was at 

*" John- Usher was a bookseller and stationer in Boston, a Colonel and Coun- 
cillor. He was tive years Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire from 1692, and 
was afterwards re-appointed in l'i02."— Allen's Amcricaii Bujgratjhical Dictioiiary. 



ST. Michael's church. 



145 




St. Michael's Church. 



once and always 
successful. He 
found the parish 
weak and feeble, 
and bitterly op- 
posed by the dom- 
inant religious 
body. His careful 
attention built up 
a healthy church, 
upon foundations 
so strong that not 
even the mighty 
tliroes of the Rev- 
olution were able 
to destroy them, 
and his judicious 
conduct gradually «.- 

overcame the enmity with which he and his work were at 
first regarded. 

A year after his arrival he reports forty-five families in his 
congregation (there were perhaps five hundred inhabitants in 
the town), and in the next year thirty communicants. The 
first adult baptism which he records* is that of Mehetabel 
Truck, an Indian woman ; the first child baptized was his 
own son, John Usher, Oct. 6. 1723. This baptism was his 
first official act. He married John Linsey and Hannah Hoar, 
Nov. 28, 1723. 

At the Easter Meeting in 1724, the first Vestry was elected. 
The vestrymen were Col. Henry Mackintosh, Maj. Ebenezer 
Brenton, Capt. Tiiomas Lawton, Capt. Samuel Little, Messrs. 
William Munro, William Walker, Jabez Howland, Henry 
Bragg, Obadiah Papillion, and Nathaniel Bosworth. Jabez 
Howland f and Nathaniel Bosworth were chosen wardens. 

*The fli-st baptism on the Church Records is that of Alice Wooilale, adult, 
baptized by Mr. McSparran, in 1721. 

+ In front of the wooden church which was burned on the 5th of December, 
1858, stood the old slate g'ravestoiie which had marked the restiuK-place of his 
10 



146 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

These were all prominent men in the town. Colonel Mack- 
intosh was one of its wealthiest citizens ; Major Brenton, 
Captain Little, and Jahez Rowland were sent to represent 
the town at the General Court, and the names of the others 
frequently appear in the town records as holding offices of 
trust and importance. 

In 1725 Colonel Mackintosh presented an additional piece 
of land to the church. He had at first given only the ground 
upon which to erect the building. The second donation made 
the lot eighty-six feet in length on King Street, and sixty-six 
feet in breadth on Hope Street.* 

In 1728 a sum of money was raised for the purchase of a 
bell, and Mr. Nathaniel Kay, of Newport, was 'authorized to 
order it from England. The bell reached Newport in safety, 
and two men were sent from Bristol with a sloop, to trans- 
port it to its final destination. The purchase of the bell had 
been accomplished only after much labor, and considerable 
self-denial on the part of the little parish. The hearts of the 
men who were bringing it up the bay swelled with pride a.s 
they looked upon it, and they resolved to suspend it from the 
mast, that its rich tones might proclaim its arrival to the 
people who were so eagerly awaiting it. But the sledge ham- 
mer used to awaken its sleeping music, was wielded by the 
brawny arm of Thomas VValdron, a giant in size and strength ; 
his strokes were given with vigor but not with discretion, and 
the bell was broken ere the eclioes of its first note had died 
away. The circumstance seems to us a trifling one, but to 
the parish at that time, the disappointment was most bitter. 
The broken bell was shipped to England to be recast, and when 

wife : " ye body of Patience, ye wife of Jabez Rowland, died Oct. ye 23, 1731, 
Aged 53, being- ye first intered in St. Michael's churchyard." It bore this quaint 
but beautiful epitaph : — 

" The Dame who takes her rest within tliis tomb, 

Had Rachel's comely face, and Leah's fruiteful womb ; 

Abigail's wisdom, Lydia's purer heart, 

Martha's just care, and Mary's better part." 

* The names of the cross streets varied at different periods in the town's history. 
Church Street was called at one time King- Street, at another, Queen Street. This 
fact must be borne in mind in examining- old deeds. 



ST. Michael's church. 147 

it came back to Bristol in the succeeding year, and was placed 
in the steeple, it proved to be one of the l)est in the country, 
and could be distinctly heard at Pawtuxet, twelve miles away. 
'" There were two important questions agitated in the parish 
in the year 1730, whicii appear to have excited considerable 
interest ; one was, whether the salary of Mr. Gallop, the 
principal singer, sliould be increased from thirty shillings, and 
the other, if he should sing without reading the first line; 
both of these weighty questions were submitted to the de- 
cision of the rector. In 1731 the society had so much in- 
creased that, for the accommodation of all its members, it 
l)ecame necessary to add galleries to the church, and the 
pews in them were readily sold. A singular vote was passed 
this year, which required the Rev. Mr. Usher to support all 
the widows of the church from what he received as his own 
salary, as small as it must have l)een." * (Mr. Usher received 
sixty poujids per annum from the Propagation Society. 
From the parish he received from eighty to a hundred and 
thirty or forty pounds each year, but tlie value of the 
colonial currency was very fluctuating.) In 1734 a steeple 
clock was added to the church by private subscription. In 
1730 Mr. Usher reports to the Propagation Society : " I have 
had sundry negroes make application for baptism, that were 
able to render a very good account of the hope that was in 
them, and their practices wei'e generally agreeable to the 
principles of the Christian religion. But I am not permitted, 
to comply with their request and my own duty, being forbid 
by their masters, notwithstanding they have the Bishop of 
London's letter and the late Bishop of Asaph's sermon to 
that purpose, to which I have added my own endeavors, both 
from the pulpit and in private conversation, to persuade them 
to comply therewith." This report shows a somewhat strange 
state of popular feeling. How long it continued we do not 
know. In 1740 he reports the baptism of one adult negro, 
but does not state whether he was a slave or not. In 1746 
he reports thirty negroes and Indians in his congregation. 

* Uixliko's Xiii ragansott Church. 



148 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

In 1735 Nathaniel Kay, of Newport, His Majesty's Col- 
lector of Customs, besides a bequest of silver for communion 
purposes to each of the four churches in his district,* and a 
bequest of lands and money to the Newport Churcli, left also 
"to St. Michael's Church the tract of land which is now known 
«,s the Point Farm,j- the income from which was to be devoted 
to the instruction of " ten poor boys in Grammar and 
Mathematics," and to the support of the church ministry. 
{The teacher was, if possible, to be a clergyman, Episcopally 
ordained.) For the erection of a school-house he gave, besides, 
two hundred pounds in money. The church came into pos- 
session of this property in the following year, but it was not 
until 1744 that permission was obtained from the town to 
place the school-house upon the public lauds. The building 
was erected upon Constitution Street, between Hope and 
High streets, in the middle of the street, as were most of 
the public buildings in those days, and Avas used until 1798 or 
thereabouts. (In 1800 it was voted by the vestry that the 
rector should sell the school bell.) The bequest of Mr. Kay 
has been, and still continues to be, a source of much income 
to the parish. A litei-al carrying out of its terms is no 
longer possible, by reason of the changes which have been made 
in the public school system of the town, but the spirit of the 
donation is still complied with. In 1800 the actual control 
of the farm passed out of the hands of the church, the prop- 
erty having been leased to " Jeremiah Ingraham, his heirs 
and assigns," for nine hundred and ninety-nine years. 

Upon the establishment of this school, and for several years, 
the Church of England people protested, though ineffectually, 
against being taxed for tlie support of the town school. In 
1744 the influence of the liberal religious sentiment of Rhode 
Island had been marked by a petition from the town to the 
General Court, that the two congregations of the place might 

* Trinity Church, Newport; St. PauTs Church, Narrag-ansett ; King-'s (now St. 
John's) Church, Providence ; and St. MichaeFs Church, Bristol. 

+ The Point Farm was for several years leased to the second John Usher. From 
his residence upon it the name of Usher's Cove came to be applied to the little bay 
which indents its eastern shore. 



ST. Michael's church. 149 

be allowed to impose a tax each, for the support of its own 
minister. It would seem that the town had the right to tax its 
citizens for such a purpose, but that no such power belonged 
to the churches. In January, 1746-47, Bristol became a part 
of Rhode Island, and consequently we find no further record 
of votes upon matters purely religious in the town-meetings. 
The school question, liowcver, was not immediately settled, 
for in March, 1746-47, we find the following vigorous pro- 
test : — 

' ' J/r. Moderator : — 

" We, the underwritten, freeholders of the Town of Bristol, and Trus- 
tees of a school in Bristol aforesaid, founded and endowed by our late 
public benefactor Nathaniel Kay, Esq. deceased, for the benefit of the 
children of the Church of England in Bristol, and other members of the 
said Church beg leave to enter the following protest against a vote this day* 
passed against the consent of us the Protestors notwithstanding what 
we have already offered to the contrary relating to the maintaining a 
free school in said town by a tax to be levied as well upon us, who have 
manifested our dissent in the most peaceable manner, as those who have 
promoted it and are the only persons to receive benefit thereby, and that 
for the following reasons, to wit; 

•' I'J- We protest oiie and all against the whole and every part of said 
vote by reason it is an encroachment upon the liberties and privileges 
granted to the members of the Colony of Rhode Island, by his late Majes- 
ty's Royal Charter, and ever since continued by his successors, and still in- 
dulged by his present Most Gracious Majesty, which privilege is confirmed 
to us by the good laws of the Colony wherein they guard against any 
one Society endeavoring for pre-eminence over other Societies. 

" 2'y- Because there is no such instance of a Free School in the whole 
Colony, being thus supported. 

" 3'y- Because this would not be equal, to oblige us to pay toward the 
support of a school we stand not in need of neither expect to reap 
benefit from, which reason in a special manner we presume will have its 
due weight with those gentlemen who formerly objected against a young 
gentleman* keeping the public school, though otherwise every way 
qualified, but only that he attended the church sometimes, when they 
would at the same time have received equal advantage with those of 
the Church. 

"4'y- Because we have already according to the Will of our late 
benefactor erected a school for the benefit of the children of the Church 
and though at present we are not so happy as to have a Master yet we 
have been and still are in pursuit of a gentleman of sober life and con- 
versation that shall be well qualified to instruct the children in the 



* Probably Mr. John Usher, .7r. 



150 HISTOEY OF BRISTOL. 

Grammar and Arithmetic and doubt not of succeeding very speedily; 
for these reasons we beg this our protest may be entered in behalf of 
ourselves and others, members of the Church of England in Bristol, 
reserving what we have further to object until you and we shall appear 
before those who are able and we doubt not are willing to do justice 
between man and man and will preserve us from being trampled upon 
and brow beaten upon any account whatever. 
"Dated at Bristol, the 9th of March, 1746-7. 

Joux Walker, |. ^,^^^,.^,^ Wardens. 
Simeon Munjio, ' 

Thos. Lawton, 1 

Nathl. Boswouth, 
ISTathl Pearse, I 
Simeon Pottek, 
Nathl. Munro, 

William Pearse, )■ Vestrymen.'^ 
William Martin, 
William Cox, i 

John Lindsey, I 

William Hoar, 
t Bennet Munro, J 

To this protest, answer was made at the next town-meeting, 
Api-il 15, 1747 : — 

" Voted, That the true intent and meaning of the town vote made and 
passed at the last town meeting, relating to the raising of the sum of one 
hundred and seventy-three pounds, for the maintaining a free school in 
this town is that the Church of England people in this town shall be 
exempted from paying any part thereof saving such as send their chil- 
dren to the said school." 

At tlie spring meeting in 1749, the Episcopalians were again 
exempted, the assessors were ordered to impose a tax upon 
the other inhabitants, " as soon as the Gentlemen of the 
Church of England give a list of the people tliat attend that 
Church." 

A few years after, both ministers were, by vote of the town, 
exempted entirely from taxes. Religious questions no longer 
divided the people, and from this time until the outbreak of 
the Revolution, the relations of the two congregations seem 
to have been entirely harmonious. In 1751 Mr. John Usher, 
Jr., was employed to teach the town school. 



ST. Michael's church. 151 

In 1756 the church edifice was thoroughly repaired, and 
from tills time until the death of the rector, the affairs of the 
church were fairly prosperous.* The population of the town 
was declining- by reason of emigration, in the last years of Mr. 
Usher's life, but the church held its own. The venerable 
missionary had beconie a cripple, but still continued to preach 
twice every Sunday until his death. He died April 30, 1775, 
being then seventy-five years of age. For fifty-two years 
he had served as the rector of St. Michael's ; in that time he 
had baptized 713 persons, 185 times he had performed the 
marriage ceremony, and 274 times he had officiated at funer- 
als. The hand of death was mercifully laid upon him before the 
fierce tempest of the Revolution burst upon the church and 
town, seeming for a time entirely to efface the results of his 
half-century's work. He was buried beneath the chancel of 
the church where he had served so long and faithfully, and 
of which lie was destined to be the last minister. The Rev. 
Mr. Doyle, of Cambridge, was, after his death, invited to offici- 
ate in the parish for the term of six months, but his health 
failed him, and he left before the period of his engagement 
liad expired. In 1776 Dr. Henry Caner, wlio had been for 
thirty years the missionary in charge of King's Chapel, Bos- 
ton, and who had been forced to leave his post by reason of his 
strong Tory principles, Avas appointed the missionary of the 
Propagation Society for this place, but the appointment was 
only an honorary one. Bristol was then no more suited for the 
residence of a Tory than was Boston, and it is hardly possible 
that Dr. Caner ever visited the town. 

On the 5th of May, 1778, the church was burnt by a band 
of British soldiers from Rhode Island, under the command of 
Colonel Campbell. It was at the time a prevailing opinion 
that the soldiers had been informed that what appeared to be 

*" In the year 1757, one of Mr. Usher's sons who had been preparing for the 
sacred ministry, took passag-e for England with the purpose of obtaining ordina- 
tion. The same fate befell him, as, by a curious coincidence, had many years be- 
fore overtaken one of the Congregationalist ministers of the town, the Kev. Dr. 
Lee. The .ship in which he sailed was captured by a French tleet, and young Mr. 
Usher, some time later, died of disease in the French castle of Bayonne." — /Jtr. 
Oeoiyc L. Locke's ^'Historical Dixcuurgc." 



152 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

tombs under the cliiirch were the powder magazines of the 
town, and that the building was a Dissenters' meeting-house. 
Some papers which have within a few months been dis- 
covered among the manuscripts of the late John Carter 
Brown, of Providence, add somewhat to our meagre stock 
of information upon the subject. The first is a petition 
to the English Society, sent after peace had been declared, 
asking for aid to rebuild the church ; it is signed by the 
wardens and vestry of the parish. After mentioning the 
burning of the dwelling-houses, the paper goes on to say: 
" The Church of England had not been open for any purpose 
whatever, from the time of our Pastor's decease (excepting 
a few condoling sermons delivered there by the neighboring 
missionaries) till 'twas broke open by the King's Troops and 
fire set to the Pulpit. If all the town had been i-educed to 
ashes, our church was so situated, and the wind, tho' high, 
from that quarter that we should have saved her." The 
second is the letter accompanying the petition, from Mr. 
John Usher, Jr., to the secretary of the society, and is dated 
March 3, 1784. Mr. Usher says that he has registered a 
catalogue of the society's books,* and lodged them in the 
hands of the eldest church warden, to await the pleasure of 
the society. Respecting the burning, he says : " A member 
of the church acquainted the second in command under 
Colonel Campbell in that excursion, that the church had not 
been open since the commencement of the war, for any pur- 
pose whatever, and that the members of that church were 
friends to Government, upon which the Officer ran to the 
Church Door, but 'twas too late, the Pulpit was all on fire. 
Two minutes sooner would have saved the Church." 

From the burning of the church until the close of the war 
the intensity of bitterness with which everything English was 
regarded, rendered it entirely impossible for the Church of 
England congregation to hold any services in the town ; but 

* 111 1724 a small library of standard theological works had been sent over by 
the Propagation Society, for the use of its missionary in Bristol. Some of these 
volumes are still in the possession of St. Michael's Parish. 



ST, Michael's church. 153 



through all those weary years the church organization was 
preserved, through the untiring zeal of Mr. Jolin Usher, Jr., 
the son of the late rector, and the man who was destined to l)e 
his successor. When the time came for the annual Easter 
meeting he, as the senior warden and clerk of the parish, did 
not fail to call its few remaining members together, formally 
to go through with the duties which belong to Easter Monday. 
For a few years tiiesc meetings were held in secret, since by 
many unthinking zealots in New England the terms "Church- 
man" and " traitor " were at the time held to be synonymous, 
but a vestry was annually elected and a record of the proceed- 
ings very carefully made. 

The minutes of the meeting held April 16, 1781, show that 
this unjust distrust of the church as a whole had worn away, 
and that possibly there may have been some unpleasant col- 
lisions between the differing members of the parish. The 
meeting had been duly warned, and a full list of officers was 
chosen. At the end of the record is a note stating that, for 
reasons hereafter to be assigned, the names of those who 
attended the meeting as parishioners and took part in the 
election of officers are set down. Some eighteen names, 
many of them very prominent in the town records, are given, 
and the record closes thus : " The meeting finished with little 
or no opposition or warmth." 

Immediately after the close of the war the services of the 
church were resumed, Mr. Usher acting as lay reader, and the 
Episcopal clergymen from neighboring towns occasionally 
being present to administer the sacraments. These services 
were held at first in the Court House,* but in 1786 and 1787 a 
new church was erected on the site of the old, a plain wooden 
building, sixty feet long and forty feet wide, having seventy- 
four pews on the ground floor, and galleries on three sides. f 

* The old Court House stood in the middle of State Street, half-way between 
Hope and Hig-h. It has since been moved to the western corner of the little street 
which runs north from Bradford, between Higrh and Wood streets, where it is still 
used as a dwelling--house. 

+ In 1811 this building- was enlarvrod, twenty-four feet being- added to the western 
end, makintf the edifice eitfhty-four feet long. It was finally torn down in 1833, to 



154 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

It is probable tliat this building was not completely fur- 
nished until 1793. In 1792 a vote was passed, tlianking Col. 
Simeon Potter for his liberality in painting the building and 
for other benefactions ; in 1793 the thanks of the parish 
were also presented to Richard Pearse and Moses Vandoorn, 
for their benefactions, and a plan for pewing the church and 
for building the pulpit was adopted. The greatest difficulty 
was experienced in raising the money to pay for this edifice, 
and Mr. Usher could hardly find purchasers for its pews, 
€ven at the nominal price of ten dollars each. The wonder 
is, that in the peculiar condition of the times, the idea of 
building should have been entertained by the parish, and the 
successful carrying out of the project not only shows a great 
amount of zeal on the part of the congregation, but also 
indicates very liberal contributions from the few persons of 
wealth who were then numbered among its members.* The 
fact that the parish was kept alive so many years with only 
the services of a lay reader is also remarkable. As a lay 
reader, Mr. Usher could marry and bury, but of course could 
not administer the sacraments. In 1791 twenty-five per- 
sons were confirmed by Bishop Seabury, of Connecticut, and 
on the 31st of July, 1793,t Mr. Usher was ordained priest. 
For several years he had been urged to take ordei'S, but his 
advanced age seemed, both to him and to others, — especially 
to Bishop Seabury, — to render this step undesirable. The wel- 
fare of the parish at last appeared to make it absolutely neces- 
saiy, and on the 21st of August, 1792, he had addressed this 
letter to the President of the Diocesan Convention : — 

''^Gentlemen: From an ardent zeal to promote the glory of God, from 

make room for the beautiful Gothic structure which was destroyed by fire on the 
5th of December, 1858. A part of the old church was incorporated in the building- 
which is now used for a blacksmith's shop, near the head of the Fall River Steam- 
boat wharf. 

* In 1799 Colonel Potter presented a bell to the parish. The inscription upon 
this bell was in French. Whence it came we do not know. Perhaps it had fallen 
Into Captain Potter's liands when he sailed the seas in his famous privateer, the 
" Prince Charles of Lorraine. " 

t This date is given, in his own handwriting, in the " Records of Births, Mar- 
riages and Deaths." 



ST. Michael's church. 155 

a strong desire to lead man into the way of liappiness, from these 

motives I would wish to dedicate the few remaining days of my life and 

usefulness, to answer these purposes. Resting it also upon this issue, 

that I trust myself inwardly thereunto moved. On these in-inciples 

accept. Gentlemen, of my warmest and sincerest thanks for the address 

-and the sanction given the address to Bishop Seabury on my behalf; 

and that as soon as it can be conveniently effected I shall present myself 

to our Kight Reverend Bishop Seabury, in order to answer your good 

intentions. 

I am. Gentlemen, 

Your humble servant, 

John Usher." 

Mr. Usher officiated as tlie rector of the parish until 1800. 
He was then seventy-eight years old, three years older than his 
father had been when he died, and the labors of his ])osition 
seemed too much for his feeble strejigth. At a parish meet- 
ing lield March 30, 1800, the aged rector announced that 
the Rev. Abraham L. Clarke, the rector of St. John's Church, 
Providence, was al)Out resigning his charge, and advised that 
he be invited to the rectorship of St. Michael's. Mr. Clarke 
accepted the position April 9, 1800, but resigned it within 
a few months, and was elected assistant minister, while Mi-. 
Usher was re-elected rector. The change was probably 
deemed necessary by reason of the provisions of the Kay 
bequest. Mr. Usher took no active part in the work of the 
parish, and was simply its rector emeritus. The relations 
between Mr. Clarke and his congregation do not appear to 
have been very satisfactory, the insufficient income was 
probably at the bottom of the trouble, and in 1803 he 
resigned.* Mr. Usher died in July, 1804, being then eighty- 
two years of age, and was buried beneath the chancel of the 
church, near the tomb in which the remains of his father had 
been laid. The Rev. A. Y. Griswold had entered upon his 
duties in the parish a few months before this time. 

For more than three-quarters of a century the two Ushers 
liad served St. Michael's Church. The father, entering upon 
the work in the vigor and strength of early manhood, had 



He removed to Long Island, where he died shortly after. 



156 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

found the ashes of a bitter controversy yet glowing, and had 
been met by the violent prejudices which that controversy 
had engendered. These prejudices had melted away before 
his quiet, persistent performance of duty, and in his maturer 
years he had been honored by the respect and esteem of 
all with whom he came in contact. As his steps became 
feeble and his eye grew dim, the whole horizon was darkened 
with the shadows of a coming storm, but death had stricken 
him down at his post before the black war-cloud burst 
upon country and town. When the helm slipped from his 
dying hand, his son had seized it, and had guided the 
church safely through the seething billows of the Revolution. 
Of the more prosperous day that was dawning upon the 
town, the son caught glimpses, and in the quiet eyes of Mr. 
Griswold read a happy promise of the bright future, which, 
under his prayerful and heaven-aided direction, was so soon 
to bless the church. 



Chapter xxii. 



MORE RECORDS. 

At a town-meeting held March 23, 1721, it was voted: — 

"Whereas persons often purposely or negligently suffer their chim- 
neys to be on fire, whereby their houses are in danger of being burnt; 
For the prevention thereof, It is voted, that whoever of the inhabitants 
of this town living between the two bridges, viz: Walker's Bridge and 
Bosworth's Bridge (so called), shall for the future suffer their chimneys 
to be on fire, so as to blaze out of the top, shall forfeit and pay the sum 
of five shillings as a fine therefor, one half thereof to be for the use of 
the poor of the town, and the other half to him or them that shall inform 
and Sue for the same before any one of his Majesty's Justices of the 
Peace for this County." 

The inhabitants of the town in tliose earlier days seem to 
have been exceedingly careless about this matter, even after the 
above vote had been passed. The Rev. Nathaniel Cotton, in 
a letter dated Oct. 30, 1723, makes mention of a destructive 
fire, which had just consumed two valuable buildings, "• with 
sundry English goods." (" Two nights later," Mr. Cotton 
writes, '' a violent storm broke up all the wharves, destroyed 
the bridges, and drove several vessels on shore, doing damage 
to the extent of two thousand pounds.") 

►Sept. 26, 1721, the first mention of the small-pox occurs ; 
it is probable that there were no cases of the disease at that 
time, as there is no subsequent record to show that a house 
was procured. At that meeting it was 

"Voted, That the Selectmen be directed to take care and get some 
convenient house to carry any person into that shall be taken with the 
small-pox, if it please God to suffer that said distemper to come among 
us." 



158 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

June 9, 1722, Nathaniel Bosworth, cooper, was, by vote of 
tlie citizens, granted " ten feet in breadth of beach and flats, 
on the north side of the street called Jones Street, at the 
north end of the town, and below Thames Street, for to build 
a wharf thereon, only reserving liberty to land on said wharf 
all goods, wares, or otlier things whatsoever, belonging to tlie 
Town for public use, from time to time, without paying 
wharfage." " This was the first wharf built in the town, and 
is at present owned by the Providence, Warren & Bristol 
Railroad Company, at the foot of Oliver Street, and has been 
known for many years as the Parker Borden Wharf. At this 
time there were two private landings, one near tlie wharf 
built by the late James DeWolf, and the other on wliat was 
called Warehouse Point, where the long wharf now stands." * 

In the year 1721 the town of Taunton presented a petition 
to the General Court, asking that the County of Bristol might 
be divided, and that it might be made the shire town of the 
new county. Colonel Byfield and Nathaniel Blagrove were 
chosen by the town of Bristol to appear at the next Court 
and show cause why the county should not be divided. The 
petition was not granted, but the action of Taunton at this 
time, and afterwards, prepared the way for the final transfer 
of Bristol to the jurisdiction of Rhode Island. 

The grain crop of the town seems to have been almost a 
failure in 1721, for, at a meeting held Nov. 6, the selectmen 
were appointed a committee " to procure one hundred and 
fifty pounds upon interest, and to lay it out according to their 
discretion for a stock of Indian Corn and other grain to sup- 
ply the Inhabitants of the town." This grain was sold under 
the direction of the selectmen, and at prices fixed by them. 
Their management of the enterprise was so successful that a 
profit of six pounds and eleven shillings was secured. This 
sum was, at a subsequent meeting, ordered to be divided among 
the members of the committee. 

A special town-meeting was held on the 20th of November, 

* From B. J. Munro's account of Bristol, in the Illustrated History of Rhode 
Island. 



MORE RECORDS. 159 

1727, to set prices on articles of merchandise in order to rate 
them. The following schedule of prices was adopted : Good 
Barrel Beef, £2, 10s. pr. bbl. ; Good Pork, £b : Winter Wheats 
6s. 6d. pr. bushel; Summer do., 5s. 6d. ; Barley, 4s. Gd. ; 
Good Rye, 4s. 6d. ; Good Indian Corn, 2s. 6d. ; Oats, Is. ; 
Good Peas, clear of bugs, 7s. 6d. ; Good Flax, Is. 2d. pr. lb. ; 
Good Hemp, 7d. : Beeswax, 2s. 4d. ; Butter, lOd. ; Dry 
Hides, 4d. ; Tanned Leather, lOd.; Dry Cod Fish, XI, 5s. pr. 
quintal ; Good Oil, £2 pr. bbl. ; Mackerel, £1 ; Whale Bone, 
3s. 4d. pr. lb. ; Bay Berry Wax, Is. 2d. ; Turpentine, 10s. pr. 
cwt. ; Bar Iron, =£2, 5s. ; Tobacco, 6d. pr. lb. ; Tallow, 6d. ; 
Cast Iron, £2 pr. cwt. In this year a second ferry was es- 
tablished to connect Portsmouth with Bristol. 

In 1732 the small-pox had begun its ravages. March 27,. 
William Gladding, having been "put out of his house for 
several months l)y reason of the small-pox," had his lease 
proportionally extended. Mr. Gladding was living in the house 
upon the Common, which the town had allowed John Liscomb, 
the sexton, to build, and which, with the improvements about 
it, it had bought in 1728 from his widow. (For the house- 
£28 were paid, for the well £8, and for the fence 40 shillings.) 
The building stood on Church Street, about half way between 
High and Wood streets. A small depression still remains 
where the cellar once was. The house was frequently used 
as a small-pox hospital in after years, perhaps on account of 
its nearness to the burying-ground. In 17G0 Mr. Gladding 
was allowed £10 on this account; the records show that 
in that year three men died in his house, of disease con- 
tracted on Captain Potter's vessel. 

In 1737 Thames Street was "ascertained" to be three rods 
wide, Nathaniel Hubbard, Timothy Fales and Jonathan Wood- 
bury having been appointed a committee for that purpose. 
In 1739 the part of the Common "east of Gladding's house " 
was designated as a burying-ground. The first burying-ground 
was the one east of Wood Street, to which some six acres 
were added in 1811, and which is still used. After the meet- 
ing-house was built, the ground near it was used as a resting- 



160 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

place for the dead. It was not until 1824 that a portion of 
the town's farm upon the Neck, was set apart as a burying- 
ground. 

The last town-meeting of the citizens of Bristol, Mass., was 
held on the first day of January, 1746-7. The arrangements 
for the transfer of the town to the jurisdiction of Rhode Island 
had already been determined upon. Capt. Jonathan Peck and 
Mr. Nathaniel Bosworth were chosen as " agents to represent 
the town, and prefer a petition to the General Assembly at 
Providence, when they shall set, in order to continue and con- 
firm the privileges of the town." Timothy Fales, Jonathan 
Woodbury, Joseph Russell, Samuel Rowland and Judge Dun- 
bar, were appointed to assist them in drawing up the petition. 

The five towns of Bristol, Warren, Tiverton, Little Comp- 
ton, and Cumberland became a part of Rhode Island on the 
twenty-seventh day of Januaiy, 1746-7. A special session 
of the Legislature was called to organize the new territory. 
The two southern towns were annexed to Newport County, 
Cumberland became a part of Providence County, and a new 
county was organized from the intervening district, with 
Bristol as the shire town. In each town a special justice of 
the peace was appointed, whose duty it was to preserve the 
peace and to issue a warrant to call the inhabitants together, 
on the second Tuesday of the next February, for the purpose 
of choosing town officers and deputies to the General Assem- 
bly. Jonathan Peck was appointed Justice of the Peace for 
the town of Bristol. 

The first town-meeting of the citizens of Bristol, Rhode 
Island, was held on the " Second Tuesday of February in 
the Twentieth year of his Majesty's Reign (George II.) 
A. D. 1746-7, being y^ tenth day of said month." Jonathan 
Woodbury was chosen Moderator, and Samuel Howland, Town 
Clerk. Jonathan Peck was chosen First Deputy, and 
Nathaniel Bosworth Second Deputy to the General Assembly. 
Jonathan Woodbury, Joseph Russell, Maj. Thomas Greene, 
Jonathan Peck, Capt. Jeremiah Finney and Thomas Throope, 
Jr., were elected as members of the Town Council. Jona- 



MORE RECORDS. 



161 



tlian Woodbury, Joseph Russell aud William Munro were 
appointed Rate-Makers. Joseph Russell became the Town 
Treasurer, with a salary of £8, old tenor,* per annum, for 
his services. 

At this meeting the following freemen '' took the Oath of 
Bribery and Corruption : " — 



Samuel Smith, 
Thomas Throope, 
Joseph Reynolds, 
Dea. John Throope, 
Nathaniel Bosworth, 
Hopestill Potter, 
John Dyre, 
Elisha May, 
Thomas Throope, Jr., 
Jeremiah Finney, 
Maj. Thomas Greene, 
William Gallop, 
Samuel Viall, 
Cornelius Waldrou, 
John Walker, 
Jeremiah Diman, 
Rogers Richmond, 
John Bushee, 
Timothy Ingraham, 
Joseph Russell, Esq., 
George Dunbar, Esq., 
William Pearse, 



Joshua Bayley, 
Joseph Eddy, 
Ebenezer Dyre, 
Joseph Wardwell, 
William Hoar, 
Thomas Weaver, 
William Bosworth, 
Simeon Munro, 
Joliii Bosworth, Jr., 
John Wardwell, 
James Bosworth, 
John Munro, 
Samuel Bosworth, 
Capt. Samuel Gallop, 
Nathaniel Pearse, 
Isaac Law ton, 
John Lindsay, 
John Throope, Jr., 
Benjamin Salsbury, 
William Coggeshall, 
Elisha Weaver, 
Joseph Reynolds, Jr., 



John May, 
Thomas Kinnicutt, 
Joseph Waldron, 
Joshua Ingraham, 
John Oldredge, 
Joseph Waldron, Jr., 
James Wardwell, 
Benjamin Reynolds, 
Capt. Thomas Lawton, 
Nathaniel Munro, 
Benjamin Smith, 
John Howland,- 
Samuel Rowland, — 
Henry Bragg, 
Jonathan Peck, 
Thomas Munro, 
Nathaniel Fales, 
John Hubbard, 
Bennett Munro, 
Dr. Aaron Bourne, 
Nathaniel Carey, 
William Coggeshall, Jr. 



" The most detestable crime of Bribery " was alarmingly 
prevalent in the colony of Rhode Island at this time (its 
absurd paper-money system was at the bottom of the wliole 
trouble f), and the General Assembly had enacted very 



* The bills of the " Banks," which Rhode Island had issued, up to the year 1740, 
■' had merely expi-essod so many pounds, shillings, or pence, at which they were to 
pass current, while in this issue (the seventh) the General Assembly further at- 
tempted to fix their \alue in gold or silver coin . Their value, as determined by tho 
law, was to l>e nine shillings per ounce of sterling alloy (silver), or six pounds, 
thirteen shillings and four pence per ounce of coined gold. This was the beginning 
of what was known as new tenor bills. Occasionally a <iuantity was printed 
from thf old i)lates, which was known as old tenor. These terms continued to be 
used until about the year 1758, subsocpientto which time all bills were called lawful 
money bills.",— R. 1. Hint. Trad, Xo. 8. Billn of Credit, or Paper Mi imi/ of Rhode 
Mand, paqe 5.3. 

+ For a full account of the paper-monej' issues, the reader should consult Mr. 
Kider's exhaustive tract, quoted in the preceding note. 
11 



162 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

stringent laws upon the subject, at its session in Newport, in 
the preceding August. The property qualification for free- 
holders had been doubled. Only those could vote who held 
property of the value of X400, or which would rent for at 
least .£20 per annum (the eldest son of each freeholder was, 
however, entitled to a vote), and the " Oath of Bribery and 
Corruption " which follows, was required to be taken by each 
freeman before he was allowed to vote. The town clerk was 
required to keep a list of the freemen, and to send a copy 
thereof to the state officers at each annual election. One 
vote unlawfully obtained by any officer invalidated his elec- 
tion. 

"You, A — B — do solemnly swear (or affirm), That you have not, 
nor will not, receive any money, or other reward, nor any promise of 
any money, or other thing, by which you may expect any money, or 
future reward, at the election of any officer to be chosen in this Colony: 
And that you will not bargain or contract with any person, directly or 
indirectly, contrary to the true intent and meaning of tliis Oath, (or 
affirmation); but that you will use your Freedom for the good of the 
Government only, without any other motive: And this declaration you 
make, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation what- 
soever." 

Every officer, from the governor down to the constable, 
was required to make this declaration : — 

"You, A — B — being chosen and appointed to the office of do 

hereby sincerely and solemnly declare. That you do justly and truly 
abhor the most detestable crime of Bribery, and that during the time 
you shall execute your aforesaid office, you will use the utmost of your 
endeavors to expose, and bring to justice, all persons whatsoever, who 
shall, directly or indirectly take any reward, or promise of reward, 
for their votes in choosing any officer in this Colony; and that you will, 
as far as in you lieth, cause the laws of this Government to be put in 
execution against all persons so offending, without partiality or affec- 
tion." 

In 1747 Capt. Jonathan Peck and Capt. Simeon Potter 
were granted permission " to make a Rope-Walk and to make 
or lay Rigging" on High Street. Many votes concerning 
rope-walks appear on the old records. Within the memory 
of not a few of our citizens, some of our streets have been 



MORE RECORDS. 



163 




Residence of Mr. Charles A. Greene. 



closed by numberless lines of cordage. In the last century, 
and in tlie early part of the present century, this business was 
a very important one. The labor-saving machinery which is 
now used in the manufacture of cordage had not then been 
invented, and all the rigging was made by hand. In some of 
the old rope-walks forty and fifty men were often employed. 
All the long buildings have now disappeared. The last of 
the series was owned and managed by Mr. Samuel Sparks, 
who died not many years ago. It stood on the south side of 
Constitution Street, between Hope and Higli streets. 

On the 9th of March, 1747, John Walker was chosen 
Vendue Master. This office had been established by the 
Legislature of Rhode Island many years before. At first 
only Newport was empowered to hold public auctions, but in 
1719 a law was passed, establishing vendue masters in every 
town. Their fees were two and a half per cent, on the 



164 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

amount of sales, and they were required to settle with the 
owners of the goods within five days. 

Feb. 8, 1747-S. " Mark Antony DeWolf took the Oath of Bribery and 
Corruption and was admitted a Freeman." 

Dec. 16, 1751. "Voted that the two Ministers, viz Mr. Usher and 
Mr. Burt, and their estates be exempted from paying rates or taxes for 
this year." 

April 15, 1752. "Voted that Mr. Thomas Kinnicut be desired to 
make a new gate at the north end of the town, on the east side of the 
neck, across the Highway, and likewise to make a piece of stone wall 
to complete the fence across the said way." 

This was the fence just north of Crane's Lane, which 
marked the boundary line between Bristol and Swansey, and 
which continued to be the northern limit of the town until 
a portion of its territory was annexed to Warren in 1873. 
The gate was upon the " Back Road." 

April 4, 1757, ,£500 were ordered to be raised " for advanc- 
ing the bounty of those that shall voluntarily enlist in the 
present expedition." " The Old French and Indian War " 
was being carried on. Bristol was required to furnish eleven 
men of the four hundred and fifty which the General Assem- 
bly of Rhode Island had ordered. Warren, also, was required 
to furnish the same number, and Maj. Thomas Greene was 
appointed muster-master for Bristol County. The soldiers 
were to be enlisted for one year, and the bounty seems dis- 
proportionally large, but it must be borne in mind that the 
men were paid in paper money.* 



* The following table, fixing- the value of " old tenor " bills, at different periods, 
was made by the General Assembly in June, 1763. 



£. s. d. 
1751, 3. 16. = One Spanish Milled Dollar. 

1752.3. 0.0 = 

1753, 3. 10. = 

1754, 3. 15. = '• " 

1755.4. 5.0 = 

1756, 5. 5. = " " 

1757,5.15.0 = 

" To understand the exact value of the dollar in Federal Money, at the several 
periods referred to, the pound must be reckoned at twenty shillings of sixteen 
and two-thirds cents each, or $3.33 ; so that in 1751, the Spanish dollar was worth 
$9.33, and in 1763, $23.33."— fi. J. Coloiual Records, Vol. IT., page 361. 



£. s. d. 

1758, 6. 0. = One Spanish Milled Dollar. 

1759, 6. 0. = 

1760, 6. 0. = 

1761, 6. 10. = " 
1763, 7. 0. = 
1763, 7. 0. = 



MORE RECORDS. 165 

August 11, 1702. "Voted, That inasmuch as Capt. William Holmes is 
about to carry Mrs. Mary Gaindet and her daughter to Amsterdam in 
Holland, if said Mary or her daughter should be taken sick there, and 
the said William Holmes should be obliged to pay for the same, by reason 
of his landing them there, this town will reimburse the same to said 
Holmes or his owner on demand, and also anj' other charge he the said 
Holmes may be obliged to pay for them by compulsion of authority.'' 

The commerce of the port was at this time quite extensive, 
about fifty vessels, mostly sloops and brigantines, being owned 
• here. The " fore-and-aft " schooner (which is a purely Amer- 
ican invention, the first one having been built at Gloucester, 
Mass., in 1714) had not then acquired the popularity which 
it now enjoys. Most of the vessels of the last century were 
rigged with square sails ; many, even, of the sloops carried a 
square top-sail. Occasionally a " Snow " came to anchor in 
the harbor. This was a vessel rigged very much like a mod- 
ern " bark," with fore and main-masts, and very near the 
main-mast a small mizzen-mast, which carried a try-sail. 
The principal trade was with the West Indies. 

In 1762 Dr. William Bradford was first chosen as moderator 
of a town-meeting (lie had been elected one of the deputies 
in the preceding year), and from this time until his death 
his name appears in the records of all the important measures 
in which the town was concerned. 

May IT, 17G4. "Voted, That Mr. John Usher's account for keeping 
school one year and a half, viz: from August 10th, 1762, to February 10 
1704, amounting to one thousand and fifty pounds, old tenor, be allowed 
and paid out of the School Treasury." 

One Spanish milled dollar at that time was worth £1 in 
old tenor bills. 

Dec. 19,1767. "Voted, That there be some suitable persons chosen, 
to put the law in Execution, with respect to Indian, Negro, or Mulatto 
servants, or slaves being out at unseasonable time of the night." 

About this time the town-meetings were held in Mr. Haile 
Turner's tavern, on Hope Street. The house has just been 
torn down to give place to the residence of Mr. Cliarles A. 
Greene, the Editor of the Bristol Phcenix. 



166 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

July 15, 1768. " The Town Council was informed that a vessel belouging- 
to Simeon Potter, Esq., and commanded by Mark A. DeWolf, Jr., just 
in from the West Indies, had on board 'ane^ro wench, sick with the 
small-pox, and that sundry persons belonging to said vessel were come 
on shore.' Fearing that the disease would spread, unless effectual 
means should be taken to prevent it, the Council ordered Jonathan 
Munday to examine the persons supposed to be afflicted, and to give 
notice to the Council whenever symptoms of disease should appear on 
any of them. Richard Hoath was ordered to go on board the vessel 
and clean it. None of the crew were allowed to come on shore." 

In 1771 Dea. John Howland was directed to erect a new- 
pair of stoclcs and a whipping-post. These appurtenances of 
the town's judiciary were erected near the Court House, on 
State Street. The stocks were placed on the sidewalk, high 
up upon the bank, that their occupants might be the more 
clearly seen by all the passers-by. They continued to be used 
until the early part of the present century. The stocks and 
the whipping-post were used to punish very many lesser 
offences against the laws. Sometimes a prisoner was sen- 
tenced to be " whipped out of town." An ox-cart was pro- 
cured, the prisoner was tied to the rear end, and as the oxen 
moved slowly along, the requisite number of lashes was ad- 
ministered. This practice was still in vogue within the mem- 
ory of many persons now living. 



Chapter xxiii. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE " GASPEE." 

On the ninth day of June, 1772, the first Britisli blood 
shed in the contest which resulted in the Independence of 
America, v;as shed upon the British armed schooner " Gaspee." 
The " Gaspee " had been stationed in Narragansett Bay to pre- 
vent smuggling, but its commander, Lieutenant Duddingston, 
had discharged his duty with needless severity, and had made 
himself and his vessel exceedingly unpopular. On that day, 
while chasing the sloop " Hannah," bound from New York, 
via Newport, to Providence, tlie "Gaspee" ran aground on 
Namquit — now called Gaspee — Point, while the " Hannali " 
reached Providence in safety. Immediately a drummer went 
through the streets proclaiming the situation of the hated ves- 
sel, and calling for volunteers to destroy her before the next 
high tide should float her again into safety. Tlie volunt(,'ers 
were desired to meet that evening in the house of Mr. James 
Sabin, on .^^outh Main Street. Eight long boats, each witli five 
mulllcd oars, were provided by Mr. John Brown, and started 
down the bay on their dangerous enterprise a little after 10 
o'clock. The oars were muffled to enable the boats to reach 
the " Gaspee " without being perceived. There was no attempt 
at disguise on the part of those engaged in the expedition. 
As the party approached the vessel, a little after midnight, 
they were joined by another boat from Bristol, under the com- 
mand of Capt. Simeon Potter. Tlieir approach was perceived 
by the people of tlie " Gaspee," and as the boats dashed forward 
shots were fired from the British schooner and returned by 



168 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

the attacking party. The vessel was boarded, and after a 
short but desperate struggle, in which the English commander 
was severely wounded, was captured. The captured crew 
were bound and put upon the sliore. The vessel was set on 
fire and entirely destroyed, and in the clear morning light 
the boats went joyfully homeward. The participants in tlie 
affair made no effort to conceal it; indeed, some of them 
boasted of their exploit wlien tliey reached Providence, but 
although a reward of £1,000 was offered by the British 
authorities for information which might lead to the convic- 
tion of tlie offenders, no one was ever brought to trial. The 
news of the destruction of the " Gaspee " spread quickly 
throughout the English Colonies ; and with the story went also 
the tidings, that notwithstanding the fact that the Britisli 
Government had pronounced the act liigh treason, and had 
offered a large reward for tlie detection of the criminals ; 
notwithstanding the fact that the boats had gone homeward 
in broad daylight, and that almost every one in Providence 
knew the names of the attacking party, yet no one of any 
character could be found in Rhode Island to testify against 
these bold outlaws. The little testimony offered was always 
successfully contradicted, even when it seemed very straight- 
forward, as was the case with that of Aaron Briggs, which 
is here given in full : — 

" The examination of Aaron, a mulatto, upon oath, taken this 14th 
day of January, A. D. 1773. 

"Aaron Briggs, aged eighteen years, or tliere about, declares, that at 
the age of five years, he was bound by the town of Portsmouth, an 
apprentice to Capt. Samuel Tompkins, of Prudence Island, until he 
should arrive at the age of twenty-four years; from which time, until 
he went on board the man-of-war, he was constantly in the service of 
the said Captain Tompkins, as a laborer on his farm. 

" That his master kept a two-mast boat in which to transport his 
farm produce to mai-ket; which was the only sail-boat within five 
miles of his master's farm, at the time the Gaspee was burnt. That, at 
that time, one Kemington, who lived about one mile from where the 
deponent lived, had a row-boat, large enough for six hands to row; also, 
one Ephraim Peirce, at about a mile and a half distance, had a two- 
mast boat; and that the sails of his master's boat had been taken off 
some time before the night on which the Gaspee was burnt; and she 
leaked in such a manner, that she could not sail. 



THE DESTRUCTION OP THE " GASPEE." 169 

" That a little after sunset, on the night in which the Gaspee was 
burnt, he left the island of Prudence, but does not know the day of 
the week, or the day of the month; that he went oft" the island in a 
little fishing? boat, of two oars, which boat lay just before the house; 
that before sunrise, and about an hour after day-break, he returned to 
his master's house, from the shore where they landed the people be- 
longing to the Gaspee; which shore was about a mile above said 
Gaspee; and the Gaspee about six miles from his master's house; and 
that it was about four or five miles from his master's, to the place 
where they landed the Gaspee peoi)le; that he found the oars in the 
boat, that he went off said island in. 

" That the reason he went off the island was to carry the boat round 
to the east side of said island, to carry a man named Samuel Faulkner. 
a hired man, to Bristol the next night; and that this young man told 
the deponent, that he would ask his master's leave for that purpose. 
That going round said island, at about half a mile from said shore of 
said island, he met a boat and one Potter, whose Christian name he does 
not know, and whom he in company with Faulkner, above-named, had 
once seen on a wharf at Bristol, and there heard him called by the name 
of Potter. And further says, that said Faulkner told him, that that was 
the person who owned the rope-walk in Bristol that they had been in: 
that when he met said Potter, as above mentioned, he was in a boat 
which was rowed with eight oars; that the time he met the said Potter, 
was about half an hour after he, this deponent left the island, and he, 
said Potter, was about five miles from Bristol; that there were eleven 
men in said boat; said Potter was in the stern sheets; that the weather 
was cloudy; that when Potter hailed him, they were about fifteen rods 
distant. 

"The first words Potter spoke, was by asking who was in that boat. 

" The deponent answered he was in there. 

•' Potter told him to come that way, he wanted to speak to him. 

•'Upon which, he went to him; and Potter told him he wanted this 
deponent to go up with him, about a mile, and that he would be back in 
an hour. 

" This deponent said he could not, he was in a hurry to go home. 

" To which. Potter replied, he must go with him. 

"The deponent answered, he could not; he must go home or his 
master would punish him; and this deponent then began to row away. 

•'Potter told him he wanted this deponent to go with him, to fetch 
something down, which this deponent had forgotten; and that he would 
pay him for so doing. 

"This deponent said he would i*ather go home, for if his master should 
miss him, he would say he was out all night, and flog him. 

" Upon which. Potter said, there is no can't in the matter; you must 
go along with me, we shall be back in an hour; and further said, give 
me your painter, you need not row, we will carry you up there. 

" I'pon which this deponent gave them the painter; that he, this 
deponent, being in his own boat, was rowed up by Potter's boat, till 
they came within half a mile of the schooner. 



170 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

"Potter then said to this deponent, get into my boat; that he got 
into the boat; Potter then told him, they were going to burn the man- 
of-war schooner, and that he, this deponent, must go with him. 

•'To which he replied, that it was hard for him to be brought there, 
where he might lose his life. 

" Potter then said, they were all upon their lives. 

" This deponent still repeated, it was hard for him to go. 

"But Potter said he must go, now he was there; and that they would 
give him a weapon, and he must do as they did, knock them down, and 
not let them kill him, if he could help it, and gave him a handspike; 
the rest were armed some with cutlasses, some with muskets; this 
happened at about 10 o'clock, at night. 

" Potter further told this deponent, that they expected sixteen or 
seventeen more boats from Providence. 

" In about an hour afterwards, they met eight boats, about half a 
mile from the schooner, which appeared to be pretty full of people. 

" Upon their meeting. Potter and two men, called Brown by the peo- 
ple, whom this deponent did not know, talked about how they should 
board the schooner. One of these persons, called Brown, got into 
Potter's boat, on which they were hailed from the Gaspee, and told 
to stand off; upon which. Brown said row up. Immediately after, he, 
this deponent, saw the captain of the schooner come upon deck, in his- 
breeches, and fired a pistol into one of the boats, and wounded one of 
the men in the thigh; that he saw a man who was in the boat with 
Potter, and who was called Brown, fire a musket which wounded the 
captain; after which there was no more firing; but they instantly 
boarded the schooner; that the captain of the schooner when he was- 
wounded, he thinks, stood by the foreshrouds, upon the left hand 
side. When they got on board, there were about four of the schooner's 
men on deck, and the rest were coming up out of the hold, and some- 
body said, 'Knock 'em down and kill them; no matter what you do 
with them.' That this deponent did not know the Browns, nor hear 
them called by their Christian names; and further declares that it was 
John Brown, who shot the captain, and that he hath never seen either 
of the Browns since. 

" That after they got possession of the vessel, they took the hands 
belonging to the schooner, and threw them down the hold ; and this 
happened about o o'clock in the morning. Then the people searched 
the vessel, took the captain's papers, which he desired they would give 
him, but they refused, tore them, and threw them overboard. Then 
they took the Gaspee's people, tied their hands, and put them into the 
boat and carried them ashore, this deponent going with them. By the 
time they got half way ashore, the schooner was on fire ; that before 
they went ashore, a doctor whom they called Weeks, from one of the 
boats, dressed the captain's wounds ; that when they had landed the 
people, they untif d their hands and let them go, and the captain of the 
schooner they carried up to a house. 



THE DESTRUCTION OP THE " GASPEE." 171 

" After they had landed the men, they put off to return, and Potter 
told him he would give him two dollars for what he had done, which he 
accordingly did; upon which this deponent set off in his own hoat, and 
rowed home ; that it was about 4 o'clock, when they had landed the 
schooner's people ; that it was a moonlight night, but sometimes 
cloudy ; that soon after the people had boarded the schooner, they 
hoisted the top-sails, her head laying up toward Providence, and he saw 
nothing further done to her or her sails ; that the schooner, when they 
boarded her, was aground; that the person who acted as the surgeon, 
he thinks he has seen at his mastei-'s house ; but is not sure it was the 
same person. 

"This deponent further says, that the person to whom he first gave an 
account of the above affair of burning the Gaspee, was Capt. Linzee, of 
the Beaver. Soon after the burning of the schooner, he went aboard 
the Beaver, in his master's said boat ; that immediately upon his going 
on board they put him in irons, because they imagined he intended to 
run away from his master ; it was about 10 o'clock at night when the 
deponent was put in irons, and Avas released about 10 o'clock the next 
day, and then they were going to flog him. After he was tied up to the 
mast, one of the Gaspee's men, called Paddy Alls, jumped up and told 
the captain that he thought he, this deponent, was one that was aboard 
the schooner Gaspee. About tliis time, the deponent had said nothing 
about the burning of the schooner, nor had made no discovery relating 
to what he knew. 

"The captain asked the man if he was sure of it. He said, yes. 

"The captain asked what clothes he had on. The man said two 
frocks. 

"Then the captain told the man to examine what clothes he had, 
which they found were two frocks. There was no mention made of any 
other clothes. The next day Paddy Alis and the deponent were called 
up before the captain, who asked Paddy if he was sure that this de- 
ponent was one concerned in the attack on the schooner. He said, yes. 

" He further asked him if he could swear to it. He answered, yes. 

" That the captain then administered an oath to the said Paddy, upon 
the Bible, who swore tliat this deponent was there. The captain then 
said to this deponent, 'My lad, you see this man has declared you were 
there, and if you don't tell who were there with you, I will hang you at 
the yard-arm immediately; and if you do you shall not be hurt.' Upon 
which this deponent told the captain all the heads that were there, the 
captain saying he did not want to know anything about the poor people, 
but only the heads. 

"This deponent further says, that he never spoke to any of the 
Beaver's crew till he got on board; that his master's boat, in which this 
deponent went on board the ship, his master went on board and received 
again; that this deponent went on board said man-of-war with an in- 
tention not to return again to his master; that he, this deponent never 
was christened, and that he should have told Captain Linzee all he 
knew relating to the Gaspee, immediately upon his going on board, if 
they had not put him in irons. 



172 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

" The deponent further says, that the morning after the burning of 
the schooner, when he returned to his master's, he went to bed with 
two black servants, with wliom he usually slept; he lay there a little 
while, and upon his master's knocking, he got up and went to fetch the 
cows. That when he first returned to his master's house, he got in at a 
lower window, on the south-west part of the house, which opens into 
the middle room ; that during the whole transaction on said night the 
schooner was burnt, no man called this deponent by name or knew 
him." 

This deposition was sworn to on the fourteenth day of Jan- 
uary, A. D. 1773. When the negro, Aaron, made a statement 
of the foregoing facts, a few weeks after the burning of the ves- 
sel. Governor Wanton was recommended Ijy Admiral Montagu 
of the English fleet, to arrest the parties charged by the negro 
with having been concerned in the " Gaspee's " destruction. 
This Governor Wanton did not do. " Whether," says Mr. 
Bartlett, in the Rhode Island Colonial Records^ " he knew 
they were concerned in the affair, which is probable, and 
desired to screen them, or whether he disbelieved the state- 
ment of Aaron, and determined to make it so appear, the 
reader must judge. But it seems he lost no time in obtaining 
the following affidavits." The affidavits given, went to prove 
that the negro did not leave the island of Prudence on the 
night in question. On the other hand, Patrick Earle, a sailor 
on the " Gaspee," " well remembered that he heard the name 
of Potter mentioned." He described the person addressed 
as Potter, as being "tall and slim, with a long, sharp nose, in 
light-colored long clothes, his hair tied behind, looking more 
like a shore man than a seaman ; " which corresponds very 
well with the descriptions of Colonel Potter which have been 
handed down to us. Earle further testified, that when the 
*' Gaspee's " people were carried ashore, he loosed his hands 
from the cords which confined them, and helped Aaron Briggs 
row the bow-oar. 

The following song, composed at the time, is attributed to 
Oapt. Thomas Swan, of Bristol, who is supposed to have been 
one of the participants in the affair: — 

'T was in the reign of George the Third, 
Our public peace was much disturbed 



THE DESTRUCTIOX OF THE " GASPEE." 173 

By ships of war that came and laid 

Within our ports, to stop our trade. 

Seventeen hundred and seventy-two, 

In Newport Harbor lay a crew 

That played the parts of pirates there, 

The sons of freedom could not bear. 

Sometimes they weighed and gave them chase, 

Such actions, sure, were very base. 

No honest coaster could pass by 

But what they would let some shot dy; 

And did provoke, to high degree, 

Those true born sons of liberty; 

So that they could no longer bear 

Those sons of Belial staying there. 

But 't was not long 'fore it fell out. 

That William Duddingston, so stout, 

Commander of the "Gaspee" tender, 

Which he has reason to remember. 

Because, as people do assert. 

He almost had his just desert; 

Here, on the tenth day of last June, 

Betwixt the hours of twelve and one, 

Did chase the sloop, called the '• Hannah,"' 

Of whom one Lindsay was commander. 

They dogged her up Providence Sound, 

And there the rascal got aground. 

The news of it tlew that very day. 

That they on Namquit Point did lay. 
That night about half after ten 

Some Xarragansett Indian men. 

Being sixty-four, if I remember, 

Which made the stout coxcomb surrender; 

And what was best of all their tricks, 

They in his breech a ball did fix ; 

Then set the men upon the land. 

And burnt her up, we understand ; 

Which thing provoked the King so high 

He said those men shall surely die; 

So if he could but find them out, 

The hangman he '11 emi)loy, no doubt; 

For he 's declared, in his passion. 

He '11 have them tried a new fashion, 

Now, for to find these people out. 

King George has offered very stout. 

One thousand pounds to find out one 

That wounded William Duddingston. 

One thousand more, he says he '11 spare. 

For those who say the sheriffs were; 



17,4 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

One thousand more thei*e doth remain 
For to find out the leader's name; 
Likewise, five hundred pounds per man 
For any one of all the clan. 
But let him try his utmost skill, 
I'm apt to think he never will 
Find out any of those hearts of gold. 
Though he should offer fifty fold. 

Of the author of this song. Judge Staples says, in his 
Docmnentary History of the Destruction of the " Gaspee : " 
" He richly deserves the thanks, not only of his contem- 
poraries, but of posterity ; not so much for the sweet poetry 
of his song, as for the ballad shape in which he invested the 
transaction. Undoubtedly some tune was found at the time 
to match it, notwithstanding tlie limping gait of some of the 
stanzas ; and as it was sung in the circle of boon companions, 
they recalled the light of the burning ' Gaspee ' to their recol- 
lection, and hailed it as being, what subsequent events have 
shown it to be, the dawning liglit of freedom, whose mid-day 
effulgence now overspreads the land." 



Chapter xxiv. 



SIMEON POTTER. 



" I love with all my heart, I The man thats called a Tory, 

The independent part, To plag-iie is all my fflorj-. 

To obey the Parliament ' How rig'hteoiis is the cause. 

My conscience won't consent. To keep the Congress laws ! 

I never can abide [ To flj?ht against the King, 

To fl^ht on England's side. Bright Liberty will bring. 

I pray that God may bless ' Lord North and England's King 

The great and Grand Congress. I hope that they will swing. 

This is my mind and heart <>f this opinion I 

Tho' none should take my part. Resolve to live and die." 

These simple rhymes, handed down from the Revolutionary- 
days in the handwriting of Captain Potter, are still preserved 
by a descendant of one of his sisters. They enable us to form 
a very accurate impression of the character of a man, who, 
for almost half a century, was one of the most conspicuous 
figures in the history of the town and State. 

Simeon Potter was the son of Hopestill Potter, of Bristol. 
He was born in this town in the year 1720, in a Ijouse which 
stood at the southeast corner of Church and Hope streets. 
His boyhood was, without doubt, spent upon the ocean, at 
that time both the play-ground and school of the adventurous 
youth of Narragansett Bay. His education must have been 
almost entirely neglected. His letters are those of an exceed- 
ingly illiterate man ; they show that even in liis maturer years 
he could have made no effort to atone for the educational de- 
ficiencies of early life. At the age when men are usually 
uncertain what course in life to adopt, he liad already attained 
to a commanding position, through his great force of character 
and unusual natural abilities, and, like most self-made men 



176 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

whom wars and conflicts have tossed into prominence, he was 
inclined greatly to undervalue the advantages of education. 
When he came back to reside in tlie little seaport from whence 
he had gone forth a humble sailor lad not many years be- 
fore, his purse was overflowing with the riches acquired in wild 
marauding excursions upon foreign shores ; his great wealth 
made him a man of mark in the community, and secured for 
him a deference which would by no means be accorded at the 
present day. The turbulent times in which his life was cast, 
at first seemed to demand just such turbulent characters as 
was Captain Potter, to assist in working out the problems 
which were then requiring solution. Into all the conflicts 
of the age, he plunged with the same eagerness and thought- 
lessness which, in other days, had been the characteristic 
of the mail-clad warriors of the middle-ages, and in those 
contests his happy fortune ever preserved him from dangerous 
wounds. When his age made it no longer possible for him to 
engage in contests of arms, his pugnacious disposition forced 
him into legal controversies, and kept him breathing the air 
of the court-room, even when he had numbered more than 
fourscore years of life. The story of his career well illustrates 
the changed conditions of the times, and marks the immense 
difference between the Bristol of to-day, and the Bristol of a 
liundred years ago. 

In all the foreign wars in which the Xew England colonies 
were involved during the eighteenth century, in consequence 
of their allegiance to Great Britain, Rhode Island was second 
only to Massachusetts in furnishing money and soldiers. The 
little colony furnished more privateers and seamen, than did 
any of her sisters ; from the year 1700 to the beginning of 
the Revolution, at least 180 private armed ships must have 
been sent out from her ports. In one year, almost one-fifth 
of the adult male population were engaged on board of vessels 
of this class. From all the ports of Narragansett Bay, there 
sailed forth long, sharp, rakish-looking vessels, whose marvel- 
ous powers of sailing placed the slow-moving ships of the 
French and Spaniards entirely at their mercy. Speed was 



SIMEON POTTER. 177 

tlie one thing sought for in the construction of these privateers^ 
and they were crowded with adventurous seamen, who handled 
them with wondrous skill. The long guns which they carried,, 
and the ease with which they were manoeuvred, enabled them 
to do deadly harm at a distance which prevented the guns 
of their adversaries from inflicting any damage upon them- 
selves. A broadside at short range, from an ordinary man-of- 
war, would have crashed through their hulls and sent them at 
once to the bottom of the ocean, but the seamanship of their 
commanders almost always preserved them from the chance of 
such a catastrophe. From the fury of the terrible gales whicli 
drove them upon rocky coasts no human skill could save them ; 
their slight frames were at once dashed to pieces, and death 
was, in almost every case, the lot of the hapless crew whom 
such a fate befell. 

The kind of warfare in which these vessels were at times 
engaged, would be deemed rather disreputable at the pres- 
ent day. A descent upon an unguarded coast, and such a 
plundering of the houses of defenceless citizens as was the 
universal custom in the wars of the last century, would now 
bring no honor to the participants in such a raid ; but men 
have grown more scrupulous since that time, and now regard 
as little better than piracy, acts Avhicli were then everywhere 
regarded as the inevitable accompaniments of civilized war. 
It will not answer for us to consider these matters from a 
nineteenth century point of view ; we must take into account 
the sentiments of the age that is past, and judge them as men 
were then accustomed to judge them. At that time such an 
expedition as that which is here recorded conferred honor 
and reputation upon all who took part in it. 

Of most of these voyages the record has long since passed 
away. Of the one in which Captain Potter was engaged, a 
very complete account has been strangely preserved, and 
within a few years made public. At the sale of a somewhat 
famous library, in England, many years ago, a set of the 
Letters of Jesuit Missionaries from 1650-1750, contained 
in some fifty volumes, was purchased by the present Bishop of 



178 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

California, and brought to this country. Bishop Kip after- 
wards published a translation of tlie letters whicli especially 
related to American liistory, and it is from his book that the 
account of tlie " Prince Charles of Lorraine " is taken. Father 
Pauque, Missionary of the *Society of Jesus, was tlie author of 
the original letter, whicli is dated " At Cayenne the 22d of 
Dec, 1744," and the extract wliicli follows is given in his 
own words (though greatly abridged), as translated by Bishop 
Kip: — 

" Scarcely bad war been declared between France and Enjjland, wben 
the English were sent from North America to cruise among the islands to 
the leeward of Cayenne. Having gone too far south, and the water giving 
out, they approached Oyai^oc to obtain some. The Aroiias Indians hav- 
ing been seized by the English, gave them information of the little colony 
of Oyapoc, of which they were ignorant, and on which they had no designs 
when leaving their own country. Everything united to cause us to fall 
into the hands of these pirates.* Their chief was Captain Simeon Potter, 
a native of New England, fitted out to cruise with a commission from Wil- 
liems ftuoene, Governor of Rodelan,! and commanding the vessel ' Prince 
Charles of Lorraine,' of ten cannon, twelve swivel-guns, and a crew of 
sixty-two men. Having learned the situation, the force and eveiything 
Avhicli related to Oyapoc, they determined to surprise it. The English 
were within the place before any one had time to collect his thoughts. 
Our commander, however, fired and wounded in the left arm the English 
captain, a young man about thirty years of age.t What is singular, the 
captain was the only one wounded on either side. He was a man small 
in stature and not in any respect differing from the others in dress. He 
had his left arm in a sling, a sabre in his right hand, and two pistols in 
his belt. He was acquainted with some words of French, told me that 
I had nothing +o fear, as no one would attempt my life. 

" They trai.sported from our houses, furniture, clothes, provisions, all 
with a disorder and confusion that was remarkable. The captain said 
to me, as an excuse for himself, that the French had taken, pillaged, 
and burned an English post named Campo, and that several persons had 
been smothered in the flames. He said that he regretted having come 
here, as this delay might cause him to miss two merchant vessels, richly 
loaded, which were on the jioint of sailing from the harbor of Cayenne. 
What gave me the greatest pain was to see the sacred A'essels in these 
profane and sacrilegious hands. 1 told them what faith and religion 

* " Les Corsaires," is the term which Father Fauque uses. 

+ William Greene was Governor of Rhode Island in 1744-5. The " Prince Charles 
of Lorraine " was owned in Newport ; she sailed from that port, Sept. 7, 1744. 

% Father Fauque was mistaken in that point. Simeon Potter was but twenty- 
four at the time. 



SIMEON POTTER. 179 

inspired me to say. "Witli words of persuasion I mingled motives of 
fear for so criminal a jirofanation. I saw many moved, and disposed to 
return these articles tome; but cupidity and avarice prevailed, and all 
the silver was packed up and carried aboard the vessel. The captain 
told me that he would willingly yield to me what he was able to return, 
but that he had no control over the others; that all the crew having part 
of the booty, he was not able, as captain, to dispose of any but his own 
share. On the next day, the pillage recommenced. Each carried to the 
fort whatever happened to fall into his hands, and threw it doAvn in a 
pile. One arrived wearing an old cassock; another in a woman's petti- 
coat; a third with the crown of a bonnet on his head. It was the same 
with those who guarded the booty. They searched in the heap of clothes, 
and when they found anything which suited their fancy, — as a peruke, 
a laced chapeau, or a dress, — they immediately put it on, and made 
three or four turns through the room with great satisfaction, after 
which they resumed their fantastical rags. They were like a band of 
monkeys, or of savages who had never been away from the depths of 
the forest. A parasol or a mirror, the smallest article of furniture a 
little showy, excited their admiration. This did not surprise me, when 
I learned that they had scarcely any communication with Europe, and 
that Eodelan was a kind of little republic which did not pay any tribute 
to the King of England, which elected its own Governor every year, 
and which had not even any silver money, but only notes for daily com- 
merce. 

" I was waiting for the return of those who had been to visit the dwell- 
ings, when they came to me to say that it was necessary for me to go on 
board the ship. We embarked in a canoe, and although the ship was 
now no more than three leagues distant, we nevertheless only reached 
it in about eight hours, in consequence of the remissness of the rowers, 
who were constantly drinking. On the following days, the long boat 
made many trips to land, so that we had the pleasure of having good 
water, tho' many scarcely used it, preferring the wine and rum which they 
had on the deck at will. I ought to say in commendation of the captain 
that he was entirely sober. He even frequently exjiressed to me the pain 
he felt at the excesses of his crew, to whom, according to the custom of 
these pirates, he was obliged to allow an abundance of liberty. 

*' On Sunday morning, I waited to see some religious service, but every 
thing went on as usual. The captain took out a book of devotion, and 
I noticed that during this day and the following Sunday he occasionally 
looked at it. As the boats were constantly going and coming transport- 
ing the pillage, one came that very evening bringing five Indians. I rep- 
resented to Capt. Totter that, as the Indians were free among us, he 
ought not to take them prisoners. But he answered me 'that this kind 
of people were used for slaves in Rodelan, and that he should take them 
thither in spite of all that I could say.' lie has in fact carried them 
away, with the Aroiias whom he had first captured in the Bay of 
Oyapoc. On Tuesday morning those arrived who had been to plunder 
the dwellings, carrying with them what they had pillaged, which to 



180 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

their great regret was inconsiderable. The next day, all the morning 
was passed in making up packages, in destroying all the furniture which 
remained in the different houses, and in tearing off the locks and hinges 
of the doors, particularly those which were made of brass. At last they 
set fire to the houses of the inhabitants, which were shortly reduced to 
ashes. I prayed them at least to spare the church, but they burned it. 
They told me that the winds had undoubtedly carried thither some 
sparks which had set it on fire. At last after everything was carried 
to the boats, the sailors finished by burning all the buildings of the fort. 
At length, having rowed out into the river, they shouted many times 
' Houra,' which is their ' Vive le roL' and their cry of joy." 

Such is the account wliich has been brought to light, of 
the descent upon Oyapoc. It does not present a very pleasing- 
picture, and yet on account of it Captain Potter and his ves- 
sel became very famous.* Bishop Kip says that the first 
officer of the privateer at this time was a young man from 
the island of Guadaloupe, who had married one of Captain 
Potter's sisters, — Mark Antony DcWolf, the first of that 
name which has since been so prominent in the annals of 
Bristol. According to Mr. William P. Sheffield, of Newport, 
who has made a special study of the history of the old New- 
port privateers, Mr. DeWolf was not the first officer of the 
" Prince Charles of Lorraine," but the clerk of Captain Pot- 
ter. The " Prince Charles " was wrecked during a violent 
snow-storm, not long after her return from this South Ameri- 
can voyage. She was driven on the rocks at the east side of 
Seaconnet Point, and very quickly broken to pieces. 

The story goes, that Captain Potter's vessel was visited by 
some of the officers of a British man-of-war just after her 
return. The Englishmen were delighted with her trim ap- 
pearance, and expressed their pleasure to her commander. 
They did so, however, with the air of patronizing condescen- 
sion which our British brethren then deemed it proper to 
assume in their intercourse with the natives of rude America. 
Proud as Lucifer, was the young Rhode Island sailor, and 
the arrogance of his guests was bitterly galling. For a time 

* The letter of Father F'auque also describes the Aoyage of the privateer along 
the coast, and the events which pi-eceded his exchange. Some of the silver which 
Captain Potter brought home with him from Oj^apoc is still in the possession of 
descendants of his family. 



SIMEON POTTER. 181 

he forbore to rci)ly, but at last one of them ventured to ask, 
" wliy he did not apply to His Majesty for a commission ; the 
King would undoubtedly be glad to give him a larger and 
better ship." Then the wrath of the American captain 
blazed forth. " When I wish for a better ship I will not ask 
His Majesty for one; I will build one myself," he said, and 
turning upon his heel, left the astonished Englishmen to won- 
der at what he could have taken offence. 

Captain Potter left the sea and came to Bristol to live very 
soon after the town was annexed to Rliode Island. In 1746 
his name first appears in the list of the vestrymen of St. 
Michael's Church, and in 1747 he built the rope-walk, which 
was afterwards to prove the source of such a great income to 
him. He was first chosen to represent the town in the General 
Assembly in 1752, and from that time until the Revolution 
his name can frequently be seen in the records of that body. 
During his residence in this quiet town, it must not be supposed 
that his life was entirely a tranquil one. On the contrary, he 
was rarely without some lawsuit or personal quarrel to engage 
his superfluous energy, and passed his days in a state of de- 
lightful conflict. His maritime experience had intensified a 
naturally imperious disposition, and in the little town he 
found men with dispositions just as imperious, who were by 
no means disposed to submit to his dictation, and who were 
ever ready to oppose their wills to his. The air of Narragan- 
sett Bay seems always to have had a tendency to develop a 
marked individuality in men, and to bring about a social 
state which can be observed nowhere else in the United 
States. 

In November, 1761, at a session of the Superior Court held 
in Bristol, a bill of indictment was found against Simeon 
Potter, for an assault made upon the Rev. John Usher. In 
consequence thereof a verdict was found against him, and 
he was fined £500.* Of the cause of his trouble with Mr. 
Usher we know nothing. Possibly a glance at the characters 

* This tine was not as large as it now seems to liavo been. A Spanish milled dol- 
lar at that time was worth £6, 10s. in Ilhode Island paper money. 



182 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

of the two men may give us a clow. Mr. Usher was essen- 
tially an aristocrat in his sympathies, the son of a man who 
had held an important office in tlie colonies; he also hehl the 
extreme ideas of the supremacy of his profession whicli pre- 
vailed in the early days of the settlement of New England. 
From all the members of his parish he required a degree of 
deference which Captain Potter, who was of humble origin 
and a thorough democrat in his views, with all his attachment 
to the Church of England, was by no means inclined to yield. 
The conflict between the two imperious wills must have been 
a very bitter one. Possibly the layman was faring the worse 
in the encounter, for, meeting his pastor upon tlie street one 
day, he paused not for further discussion, but immediatch' 
knocked him down, with the disastrous pecuniary result which 
has just been mentioned. Captain Potter could be extremely 
generous when Ins sympathies were thoroughly enlisted, as 
his many gifts to St. Michael's Church in later years testify, 
but ordinarily he was rather careful of his money, and the 
result of this trial was bitter indeed.* Whatever the trouble 
was, it did not prevent Mr. Potter from becoming a firm friend 
and supporter of the Rev. John Usher, Jr., in the latter part 
of his life. 

Into the contest which resulted in the independence of the 
American Colonies, Simeon Potter at first plunged with all 
the ardor of his nature. His participation in the destruction 
of the " Gaspee " has been already detailed. For several years 
before the war began he had been a member of the General 
Assembly, and his fellow-members were so impressed by his 
ability and zeal, that when tlic office of Major-General of 
the forces of the colony was created, in December, 1774, he 
was the first man chosen to fill the position. His conduct 
during the bombardment of the town shows that he had then 
lost none of the intrepidity of his youth, but from some un- 

* On one occasion a young- nephew, upon whom fortune had not then smiled, 
was talking with Mr. Potter and bewailing bis apparent lack of success in life. 
"How, Captain Potter," said he, "shall I go to work to make some money. " 
" Make money I make money ! " was the reply, " I would plow the ocean iito pea- 
porridge to make money." 



SIMEON POTTER. 183 

known reason his zeal appears to have waned as the war went 
on. The records indicate that he had no share in it, and 
tliat he soon ceased to take any active part in the affairs of 
the town and State. 

In 1776 lie was chosen one of the Governor's Assistants, 
bnt at many of the sessions of the Assembly he did not pre- 
sent himself at all. At the December session a vote was 
passed requesting him to render his reasons for so absenting 
himself, and asking him to give his attendance at the next 
session. In March, 1777, the committee appointed to assess a 
tax upon the inhabitants of the State estimated the taxable 
valuation of Bristol at £50,000. Warren was valued at 
£20,000, and Barrington at £22,575.* Against the report of 
the committee, Mr. Potter entered the following protest : — 

"I, the subscriber, do beg leave to protest against the estimate, as 
now apportioned by the committee for that purpose; it appearing to 
me that there is a manifest error, as it is evident from the present dis- 
tressed situation of the town of Bristol, it is estimated at too high a 
value; the inhabitants being removed by reason of the troops being- 
barracked in their houses, and no trade or business of any kind being 
by them done; they being under the disagreeable necessity and the 
expense of removing their families and elfects, and hiring abroad places 
for their families to reside in; the rivers and bays being by the Author 
of Universal nature so situated, that the ships of war of his Britannic 
Majesty, and the tenders belonging to the same, can at all times harass 
them, and keep the inhabitants from their lawful employments, unless 
the same standing force should be kept up, which at all times (while 
they are there stationed) renders their houses and estates to them in 
a great measure useless. 

'* Under all these disadvantageous circumstances, it appears to me, and 
I think must to every reasonable member, that the said town is not 
able at present to pay so large a tax as either of the towns of Warren or 
Barrington: on these considerations it is, that I as an inhabitant of this 
town, and a member chosen by the free suffrages of the same, and the 
state in general,! to sit here to see justice impartially administered, 
do protest in solemn form against the said apportionment. 

SiMEox Potter. 
Providence, March 8, 1777." 



* hi 17T0 the population of Bristol was 1,067 ; of Warren, 1,005 ; of Barrington, 538. 
+ Under the ol<l charter the assistants, who oame afterward to bo called sena- 
tors, were chosen by the whole Stale, and not by particular towns. 



184 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

His name appears for tlie last time in the colonial records 
in the bills ordered to be paid at this same session. 

" Simeon Potter, for three whale-boats, taken by order of General 
West and Colonel Richmond, for the troops to go upon Prudence, at the 
time it was attacked by Wallace; for two whale-boats taken by order 
of Governor Bradford, to go upon Hog Island, to take off stock etc.; 
for cordage delivered to William Throop, by Governor Bradford's order, 
and for the use of his careening fall to draw cannon &c £33, 4s. 6J." 

At a town-meeting, Maj 14, 1777, Colonel Potter was 
chosen Moderator, but after tlie usual officers were elected, 
he " withdrew and refused to attend the meeting any longer." 
A tax-collector's account was thereupon presented, which 
showed that he had neglected to pay all his taxes. From 
this date until May 10, 1780, his name disappears from the 
records. At that meeting it was voted : " That the Asses- 
sors make enquiry and make report to the town at tlie 
adjournment of the meeting, what part of Colonel Simeon 
Potter's rates remain unpaid, and that Mr. Smith, the col- 
lector, be desired to apply to the Assessors of the town of 
Swansey, to know at what time said Potter began to pay 
taxes in said town and what part of his personal estate has 
been rated from time to time in said town." He had taken 
up his residence in Swansey, though he still maintained a 
household in Bristol. (Until 1775 he had lived in the house 
in which he had been born. After it was burnt by British 
troops, he went to live in the old house which stands on the 
west side of Thames Street, about half way between Brad- 
ford and State streets.) 

While he ceased henceforth to participate in town affairs, he 
yet continued to retain his interest in St. Michael's Church. 
In 1792 the vote of thanks, of which mention has been made 
in a previous chapter, was passed, and in 1793 his name again 
appears in the list of vestrymen, which list it continues to 
head from that year until the year of his death. He died 
Feb. 20, 1806, aged eighty-six years. Colonel Potter, thougli 
twice married, left no descendants. By his will,* his large 

*A small farm in Swansey was by this will given to one of his slaves, in the 
posiession of whose heirs it still remains. 



SIMEON POTTER. 186 

estate was divided among his nine sisters and their descend- 
ants, though not in equal portions. At his death it was val- 
ued at al)out a quarter of a million, but among the assets 
were included very many notes and bills which proved to be 
entirely worthless, and the amount which was finally divided 
among his heirs did not reach one-half of the original esti- 
mate. 

Frohi his house on Thames Street, the old captain was 
borne to his last resting-place in tlie burying-ground upon the 
Common. Full of strife and tumults was the century in 
which his manhood was spent ; stormy and passionate liis own 
career Imd been. He was, perhaps, the last survivor of the 
old sea-captains who, as English subjects, had sailed out from 
Narragansett Bay during the first half of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, to make war upon the enemiee of Great Britain. Won- 
derful had seemed the wealth which he had thus acquired. 
But among those who crowded about his bier and silently 
joined in the long funeral procession, were men who would 
ere long sail forth from the harbor of Bristol in a little ves- 
sel that was destined to collect from tlie merchants of Eng- 
land, a tribute many times exceeding that wliich he had 
exacted from Ensland's foes. 



Chapter xxv. 



CENSUS STATISTICS FROM 1 748 TO 1880. 

The census returns of the year 1748, tlie first taken after 
the town became a part of Rhode Island, show that Bi-istol 
had then a population of 1,069. For the convenience of tlie 
reader, the total population of the town at each census, from 
that year to the present time, is given in one chapter. The 
full returns of 1774 are also given. A glance at the names 
will reveal tlie immense difference between the population 
then and now. In that year almost all of the inhabitants, 
except the negroes, were native Americans ; in 1875, 1,386, 

nearly one-fourth, and in 1880 * were born in foreign 

lands. Some names of families prominent at that time can- 
not now be found in our directory, and yet a wonderfully 
large proportion of them are still lieard upon the streets of 
the town. From the recapitulation of the returns for the 
whole State, the reader will be able to judge how great, and 
how entirely disproportionate to its size, was the influence 
which the little town exerted in the revolutionary times. A 
like study of each census would show that the town has 
always taken an unusually prominent part in state affairs. 

POPULATION AT DIFFERENT DATES. 



1748 1,0G9 

1755 1,080 

1774 1,209 

1776 1,067 

1782 1,032 



1790. 
1800. 
1810. 
1820. 



.1,406 , 1830 3,034 

.1,678 ; 1840 3,490 

.2,693 j 1850 4,616 

.3,197 I 1860 5,271 



1865 4,649 

1870 5,302 

1875 5,829 

1880 6,028 



Returns not yet received. 



CENSUS STATISTICS 



187 




Residence of A. E. Burnside, U. S. Senator. 

The following table shows the rate per cent, of increase or 
decrease in the population in the several periods ; the minus 
sign ( — ), indicates a decrease : — 



1748-1774 13.1 

1774-1782 —14.6 

1782-1790 3G.2 

1790-1800 19.3 

1800-lSlO tiO.5 



1810-1820 18.7 

1820-1830 — 5.1 

1830-1840 15. 

1840-1850 32.3 

1850-18C0 14.2 



1860-1865 —11.8 

1865-1870 14. 

1870-1875 9.9 

1875-1880* 



The number of colored persons in the town at different 
dates was as follows : — 



1748 


128 


1800 


113 


1840 


171 


1870 


135 


1774 


114 


1810 


177 


1850 


200 


1875 


190 


1782 


76 

108 


1820 

1830 


213 

171 


1860 

1865 


234 

145 


1880* 




1790 







There were 13 Indians in Bristol in 1748, 16 in 1774, 2 in 

1782. 



* Returns not yet received ; the blank is left that the reader may insert the 
figures at his own convenience. 



188 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 
CENSUS OP BRISTOL IN THE YEAR 1774. 







WHITES. 


ai 












1 




M 


's 


FAMILIES. 


Males. 


Fema 


LES. 


C 















M l-l 1 






Above 


Under 


Above 


Under 










16. 


16. 


16. 


16. 








Allen, Sarah 




1 


2 


2 






5 


Addie, Joseph 






"i 




1 








2 


Barrows, John .... 






1 


'3 


1 


i 






G 


Burt, John 






1 




2 






2 


5 


Bosworth, James .... 






1 




1 








<> 


Bradford, William . . . 






2 


2 


2 


'4 




2 


12 


Bradford, Daniel .... 






2 


2 


3 


3 






10 


Bradford, Priscilla . . . 










3 








3 


Bosworth, Benjamin 3d . 






i 




2 


"i 






4 


Bosworth, Benjamin . . 






1 


2 


1 


2 






6 


Bosworth, William . . . 






2 


1 


1 


2 






fi 


Bosworth, William Jr. 






1 


1 ^ 


1 








3 


Blake, Ebenezer .... 






1 


3 ♦ 


2 


i 






7 


Burr, Simon .... 






1 


3 


1 


3 






8 


Bullock, Lenox . . . 






1 


1 


1 


3 






G 


Bourn, Sliearjashub 






3 


2 


2 






'3 


10 


Bourn, Sliearjashub Jr. 






1 




1 








2 


Church, Peter . . . 






1 


') 


1 


"i 




"i 


G 


Church, Nathaniel . . 






2 




1 








3 


Church, LTnis .... 










1 


'4 






5 


Church, Samuel . . . 






i 


'4 


2 


2 






9 


Carey, Nathaniel . . 






1 


1 












G 


Cary, Ichabod .... 


















7 


Cob, Elizabeth . . . 










2 








2 


Clarke, Lemuel . . . 






2 


i 


3 






(> 


12 


Coomer, John .... 






3 




1 






1 


G 


Cushina;, Josiah . . . 






1 




1 






1 


3 


Champlin, Thomas . . 






1 


4 


1 








G 


Chase, Isaac .... 






2 


1 


3 


2 






8 


Coggeshall, William . 






1 




1 


1 




'3 


G 


Cogjjeshall, Sarah . . 










2 








2 


Coggesliall, Newby . . 






2 


4 


3 


"i 




'2 


12 


Coggeshall, George . . 






1 




1 


1 






3 


Christopher, William . 






2 


2 


2 


3 






9 


Coxx, William Jr. . . 






2 




1 


2 






5 


Diman, James ... 






1 


'4 


1 


3 




'2 


11 


Diman, Jeremiah . ;; 






3 


1 


2 


1 






7 


Diman, Jonathan . ? 






2 




1 


2 






5 


Diman, Nathaniel . . 






1 


'3 


1 


2 






7 


Diman, Joseph . . . 






1 


1 


1 


1 






4 


DeWolf, Charles . . . 






1 1 


1 


1 


• 2 






.5 


DeWolf, Mark Anthony J 


r. 




I 1 




1 






2 


4 


Drown, Richard . . . 






1 




1 


i 






3 


Drown, Solomon . . . 






1 




1 


1 






3 


Drown, Jonathan . . 






1 


2 


'> 


1 






() 


Eslich, Isaac .... 






2 




1 








3 


Eslich, Mary .... 










3 








3 


Finney, Jeremiah . . 






'2 


2 


3 


"4 






11 


Finney, Josiah . . . 






1 


2 


2 


5 




i 


11 


Fales, Nathaniel . . . 






3 


1 


3 


1 




1 


10 


Fales, Timothy . . . 






1 












1 


Fales, Nathaniel Jr. 






1 




i 


"i 


' _ 


*i 


4 


Fales, Jonathan . . . 






2 




2 








4 



CENSUS STATISTICS. 
Census of Bristol in the Year 1774. — Continued. 



189 





WHITES. 


























-3 


FAMILIES. 


Males. 


Females. 


_C8 

3 


1 

03 


1 








c 


5 


H 








, 






.Vbove 


Under 


Above 


Under 










16. 


16. 


16. 


16. 








Gladding, John 


4 




2 


1 






7 


Gladding, Daniel .... 


1 




1 


•7 






4 


Gladding, William .... 


2 


4 


2 


2 






10 


Gladding, John Jr. . . . 


2 


5 


1 


2 






10 


Glover, .John 


3 




3 




2 


i 


10 


Greene, Thomas, Farm Family, 






1 


i 


1 


5 


8 


Gain, Andrew 


i 




1 


1 






3 


Gray, Thomas 


1 




2 


2 






8 


Hough, Elizabeth .... 






1 








1 


Hill, Bernard 


i 




1 


i 






3 


Harding, William .... 


1 


'5 


1 


2 






i) 


Holmes, William .... 


2 


2 


3 








7 


Howland, John 


1 




1 








2' 


Howland, John Jr 


2 


"5 


1 


'3 






11 


Harscall, Mary 






2 






"3 


5 


Hubbard, John 


i 




1 








2 


Hoar, William 


2 




4 








H 


Hogens, John 


1 




1 


2 






4 


Ingraham, John 


1 




1 








2 


Ingraham, John Jr. . . . 


3 


5 


1 









11 


Ingraham, Jeremiah . . . 


o 


2 


1 


2 




i 


8 


Ingraham, Timothy . . . 


1 




1 


1 






3 


Ingraham, Joshua .... 


1 




2 


4 




2 


9 


J oils, Robert 


1 


2 


1 









6 


Jolls, Mehetabel 






2 






5 


7 


Jolls, Ebenezer 


i 


2 


1 








4 


Jolls, John 


1 


3 


1 


'3 






8 


Kinnicutt, Sarah .... 






2 




i 


"i 


4 


Lynsey, Jo.seph 


i 


"i 


1 


i 






4 


Lynsey, William .... 


2 


1 


3 








(> 


Lynsey, William Jr. . . . 


i 


1 


1 


i 






4 


Lynsey, Elizabeth .... 






2 


1 






3 


Lamb, Sarah 






2 


2 






4 


Lefavour, Daniel .... 


2 




i 






i 


4 


Liscomb, Samuel .... 


1 


4 


2 


i 






8 


Lawless. William .... 


1 


■ 1 


1 


1 






4 


Munro, Bennet Jr 


1 




f> 








3 


Munro, Nathan 


1 


4 


2 


1 






8 


Munro, George 


1 


1 


1 









5 


Munro, ISIary 






1 








1 


Munro, William 


1 


i 


3 


2 




'.•5 


10 


Munro, Hezekiah . ... 


1 




1 


1 




2 


5 


Munro, James 


1 


'i 










2 


Munro, Stephen 


3 


1 


i 


'2 




i 


8 


Munro, Bennett 


4 


2 


3 






7 


10 


Munro, William 2d ... 


1 


1 


1 


'4 






7 


Munro, Charles 


2 


1 


1 








4 


Munro, Hannah 


2 


1 


1 


1 






5 


Munro, Edward 


1 


2 


1 


1 






5 


Munro, Nathaniel .... 


2 


2 


1 


2 






7 


Munro, Archibald .... 


1 


1 


1 


1 






4 


.Munro, Nathan 2d .... 


3 


1 


1 


5 






10 


Munro, Simeon 


1 


1 


3 








5 


Munro, William 3d . . . . 


1 


1 ''i 


1 








4 



190 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Census of Bristol in the Year 1774. — Continued. 



FAMILIES. 



Mancliester, Seabury 
Manchester, Nathaniel 
Maxfield, Daniel 
Miiigo, John . . 
McCarty, William 
McCarty, Margaret 
May, John . . . 
Marlindale, Sion 
Munday, Jonatlian 
Morris, John . . 
Newning, .Tames 
Oldridge, Joseph 
Oldridge, Alleiha 
Oldridge, Jolin . 
Oldridge, John l!d 
Oxx, Samuel . . 
Oxx, George . . 
Pearse, Nathaniel Jr 
Pearse, Richard . 
Pearse, William . 
Pearse, George 
Pearse, Thomas . 
Pearse, Nathaniel 
Peck, Jonatlian . 
Peck, Loring . . 
Paine, Mary . . 
Pratt, John . . 
Potter, Hopestill 
Potter, Simeon 
Phillips, Nathaniel 
Richardson, David 
Read, Joseph . . 
Reynolds, Joseph 
Reynolds, Joseph Jr 
Reynolds, Mercy 
Russell, Joseph 
Rosbottom, Benjamin 
Salsbery, Benjamin 
Salsbery, Caleb . 
Salsbery, Levi 
Salsbery, Bennet 
Swan, Thomas 
Sanford, Restconib 
San ford, Joshua . 
Smith, Nathaniel 
Smith, Benjamin 
Smith, John . . 
Smith, Nathaniel 
Smith, I'eter . . 
Smith, .Tames . . 
Smith, Richard . 
Smith, Josiali . . 
Smith, Steiihen . 
Smith, Jolm . . 



WHITES. 



Males. 



Females. 



Above 
IG. 



Under 
16. 



Aliove 
10. 



Uuder 
10. 



11 



() 
4 

8 
;? 
4 
2 

7 
7 
2 

10 
3 
4 
2 
4 
2 
8 
G 
5 
9 

14 
7 
4 

15 

10 
5 
5 
G 
5 

15 
8 
4 

1.3 

14 
4 
3 
7 
5 
3 
ti 
7 
4 
5 
8 

11 
G 
7 
G 



12 
12 
10 



CENSUS STATISTICS. 
Census of Bristol in the Year 1774. — Continue 



191 





WHITES. 

1 


09 

'O 




. 1 


FAMILIES. 


Males. 


Females. 


S 1 s 

s 1 








a 


5 1 E- 


^ 












Above 


Under 


Above 


Under 






i 




10. 


16. 


16. 


16. 








Sniitli, Samuel 


1 


3 


3 


2 








9 


Sniitli, Billings . . . 








1 


2 


1 


5 








9 


Salbev, Edward . . . 








2 


1 


2 


2 


. 






7 


Thurber, Caleb . . . 








1 


2 


1 


1 


. 






5 


Throope, William . 








2 1 


1 


1 


. 






5 


Throope, Estber . . 












2 


1 








3 


lusher, Jobu . . . 








i 




2 




^ 






1 4 


Usber, John Jr. . . 








1 2 


2 


3 


2 








9 


Usher, Hezekiah 








1 




3 


9 








1 14 


Usher, Allen . . . 






1 1 


5 


1 










7 


Van Doom, Anthony 






1 


3 


1 


"4 








1 10 


AValker, Patience 










3 




. 






1 4 


AVest, William . . 






2 


'2 


1 


'2 


. 






« 


West, Oliver . . . 






1 


1 


1 


1 


1 . 






4 


West, James . . . 






1 


1 


1 


2 








5 


West, Samuel . . . 






1 ' 3 


2 










6 


AVest, John . . . 








3 , 2 


2 


"i 








8 


Ward well, Phebe 








1 1 


3 


1 








() 


Ward well, Joseph . 








1 2 


1 


2 








6 


AVardwell, Benjamin 








1 


1 










2 


AYardwell, Isaac . . 










1 


2 


2 








6 


Wardwell, Stephen 










1 


2 


3 








8 


Wilson, William 












1 










2 


Wilson, John . . . 












1 




• 






2 


Wilson, Jeremiah 










i 


2 










6 


AVilson, Thomas . . 












1 




• 









AVhite, William . . 










"i 


2 


4 








'. 8 


AVoodbury, Lydia 












1 










1 


AVhi taker, Samuel . 










i 


3 


i 








G 


AA'^aldron, Jolin . . 










1 


1 


1 








2 (J 


AValdrou, John 2d . 










1 


2 










2 7 


Waldron, Cornelius 












2 










3 


Waldron, Isaac . . 










4 


1 










6 


AValdron, Nathaniel 








2 


4 








. 






10 


AValdron, Phebo . . 








2 


1 


2 


3 








1 9 


Young, Joyce . . . 






• 




1 


1 


1 








3 










272 


232 


319 


25() 


16 




114 1,209 



RECAPITULATION. 

Whole number of Families 1^" 

Total AVhites 1,079 

Grand Total, .... 1,209 



192 



CENSUS STATISTICS, 



RECAPITULATION OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE COLONY OF 
RHODE ISLAND, ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL CENSUS 
TAKEN IN 1774. 





.2 


WHITES. 


^ 


.§ 


S 
§ 






MALES. 


FEMALES. 


O o 




c 
S 










« 


a 


5 


■3 H 




Above 


Under 


Above 


Under 


o 






o 

H 






16. 
3,100 


16. 


16. 


16. 










Newport, . . . 


1,590 


1,558 


3,634 


1,635 


7,917 


46 


1,246 


9,308 


Providence, . . 


6.5.5 


1,319 


850 


1,049 


833 


3,950 


68 


303 


4,331 


Portsmouth, . . 


230 


343 


,341 


400 


385 


1,369 


31 


122 


1,512 


Warwick, . . . 


■.m 


569 


513 


615 


465 


2,161 


88 


89 


3,438. 


Westerly, . . . 


357 


431 


441 


443 


401 


1,708 


37 


69 


1,813 


New Shoreham, . 


75 


109 


119 


131 


130 


469 


51 


55 


575 


East Greenwich, 


375 


416 


;M5 


464 


:338 


1,.563 


31 


69 


1,663 


North Kingstown 


361 


538 


497 


595 


5.53 


3,183 


79 


311 


2,472 


South Kingstown 


364 


550 


554 


597 


484 


2,185 


310 


440 


2,835 


Jamestown, . . 


69 


110 


90 


118 


83 


400 


33 


131 


563 


Smithfleld, . . . 


476 


743 


665 


769 


638 


3,814 


33 


51 


3,888 


Scituate, .... 


564 


909 


879 


933 


817 


3,.538 


8 


55 


3,601 


Grlocester, . . . 


.535 


743 


734 


740 


719 


3,936 




19 


2,945 


West Greenwich, 


304 


429 


395 


465 


4.56 


1,745 




19 


1,764 


Charlestown, . . 


307 


313 


315 


350 


364 


1,341 


528 


.52 


1,831 


Coventry, . . . 


274 


474 


555 


493 


470 


1,992 


11 


20 


3,033 


Exeter, .... 


389 


441 


415 


478 


44(i 


1,780 


17 


67 


1,864 


Middletown, . . 


13:} 


310 


179 


3.59 


1.56 


804 


13 


64 


881 


Bristol, . . . . 


197 


273 


'£,& 


319 


256 


1,079 


16 


114 


1,209- 


Tiverton, . . . 


398 


418 


.500 


438 


434 


1,790 


71 


95 


1,956 


Warren, . . . . 


168 


337 


251 


3.55 


185 


928 


7 


44 


979 


Little Compton, . 


318 


304 


3.54 


383 


220 


1,160 


35 


47 


1,233 


Richmond, . . . 


189 


386 


316 


334 


387 


1,213 


20 


24 


1,357 


Cumberland, . . 


364 


400 


408 


478 


4.50 


1,7.36 


3 


17 


1,7.56 


Cranston, . . . 


340 


476 


399 


517 


390 


1,782 


19 


60 


1,861 


Hopkinton, . . 


399 


437 


430 


477 


415 


1,739 


21 


48 


1,808 


Johnston, . . . 


167 


243 


337 


354 


334 


9.57 


9 


65 


1,031 


No. Providence, . 


138 


193 


172 


330 


197 


792 


7 


31 


830 


Barrington, . . 


91 


143 


118 


163 


120 


543 


18 


41 


601 




9,450 


14,043 


13,731 


15,349 


13,386 


54,460 


1,479 


3,668 


59,707 



Chapter xxvl 



CORRESPONDENCE, ETC., BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 

The story of the " Boston Tea Party " is so familiar, and 
has been so often told, that even a slight acconnt of it is as 
unnecessary as it would be out of place in these pages. The 
tea was thrown overboard from the shij)s in Boston Harbor 
on tlie night of December 16, 1773. On the sixteenth day of 
February, 1774, a meeting of the citizens of Bristol was called, 
to give expression to the sentiments of the town respecting 
the matter. This meeting was very fully attended. Simeon 
Potter was chosen Moderator. Letters relating to the sub- 
ject, which had been received from the committees of cor- 
respondence in the towns of Boston and Newport, were read, 
and a committee, consisting of Joseph Russell, Nathaniel 
Fales, Simeon Potter, William Bradford, Shearjashub Bourne, 
Benjamin Bosworth and Joshua Ingraham, was appointed, to 
draw up a series of resolutions, to be presented for the ap- 
proval of the town at a subsequent meeting. 

At a town-meeting held February 28, 1774, the committee 
reported the following resolutions, which were adopted. A 
copy was ordered to be entered in the records and printed in 
the Newport Mercury : — 

''■Resolved I''' — That ouv ancestors were neitlier P'elons nor outlaws, 
but their emigration from their native land and all that was dear and 
valuable to them, was the effect of tyranny and oppression. 

"2'"y — That arriving in America and purchasing the Soil of the 
natives, who were sole Lords and Proprietors of it, they had a right of 
Jurisdiction Independent on the Parent State. 

";^ciiy. — That in their feeble State, being unable to support that Right, 
they put themselves under the allegiance and protection of the Crown 
13 



194 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

of England, who to encourage their jjerseverance in Subduing a wilder- 
ness, which has since been a great emolument to the British Crown, 
stipulated to secure their natural, civil and Religious rights, both to them 
and their posterity, by charter; concerning which the late Bishop of 
.Salisbury, (Dr. Burnett,) was pleased to say that there was a greater 
Sacredness in the Charter of New England than in those of the Coipora- 
tions of England, because those were only acts of grace, whereas the 
Charter of New England was a contract between the King and the first 
patentees. 

"4thiy — That our privileges have been invaded and several attempts 
made to deprive us of them, especially by a late act of Parliament Im- 
powering the East India Company to import tea subject to a duty, &c. ; 
it is therefore voted and resolved that whoever shall be in any way aiding 
or assisting in landing, unloading, purchasing, vending or receiving any 
of the said tea or any other dutied tea, shall be decreed an enemy to his 
Country. / 

"5thiy — Considering the vast amount of Territory, wealth and power 
that the plantations in North America are to the Crown of Great Britain, 
that it was obtained by our Ancestors without any expense to the Crown, 
with the toil of their lives and expense of their blood and treasure; Con- 
sidering also our own exertions for the Crown in the late war. especially 
in the reduction of Louisberg, in the year 1745, which purchased a peace 
for the whole nation then involved in calamitous war, we say considering 
these things, to invade our privileges is the most cruel ingratitude, for 
although the Charges of that Expedition have been in part reimbursed 
by the Crown, yet what restitution has been or can be made for the 
llower of the land who were slain in battle, and the charges consequent 
thereon have been and still are a burden to this Town, as there are sev- 
eral of the widows of those who were either slain in battle or died in the 
service of their King and Country, who have been and still are supported 
by the Town. 

•'Qthiy — That to invade our privileges is as impolitic as it is cruel, as 
several millions of good Subjects are thereby disaffected, and may in 
time be provoked to renounce their allegiance and assert an independ- 
ency. 

"7thiy — What makes our grievances the more intolerant is that so 
many unnecessary officers are supijorted by the earnings of honest In- 
dustry, in a life of dissipation and ease, who by being properly employed 
might be useful members of society. 

" S'^^'y — Instead of exploring another asylum, with the blood of our an- 
cestors boiling in our veins, we are determined to join with our brethren 
on the Continent in all Lawful measures to Defend our rights and privi- 
leges in this good laud which our fathers have transmitted to us, their 
posterity, as a token of their dearest affection. 

• 'gthiy — That whilst we assert our freedom, we would by no means 
deprive others of theirs, and that a difference in Sentiments under the 
influence of reason and virtue ought by no means to produce an aliena- 



CORRESPONDENCE., ETC., BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 195 




Mount Hope. 



tion of affection, or interrupt a friendly Intercourse and mutual exchange 
of good offices. 

•' lo'iiiy- — We apprehend that there is danger from another quarter gen- 
erally unforeseen and unsuspected. That that anarchy and Confusion 
which seem to prevail, will as naturally establish tyranny and arbitrary 
power, as one extreme leads to another. Many on the side of Liberty, 
when they see it degenerating into anarchy, fearing that their persons 
are not safe nor their property secure, will be likely to verge to the other 
extreme, of which those that envy us our happiness and prosperity will 
avail themselves to carry their designs into execution. Our determina- 
tions therefore are as firm for the support of Government agreeable to 
our excellent Constitution, as for the defence of our own rights and 
privileges. 

" llthiy._xhat as we have hitherto approved ourselves Loyal subjects, 
so we take this opportunity to express our allegiance to our Gracious 
Sovereign George the third, and entire confidence in the rectitude of his 
intentions, being persuaded that if the wicked were taken from before 
the throne, an happy Era would commence, that our petitions would 
be heard and our complaints eased, that the Wisdom, Justice and Clem- 
ency of administration would conciliate the affection of the Colonies, 
which, under the smiles and protection of the parent state, by increasing 
in wealth and power would be a further addition to the Strength and 
Glory of Great Britain. 

" Voted, That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Towns of 
Boston and Neit-port, and the other patriotic towns on the Continent, for 
their virtuous and spirited opposition to the measures of administration. 



196 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

aud their noble exertions in defence of our invaluable rights and privi- 
leges. 

" Voted, That the Clerk send copies of these resolves to the Committees 
of the towns of Boston and Newport, and procure them to be printed in 
the Newport Mercury." 

Ill a few days tlie following letter was dispatched to the 
Committee of Correspondence for Boston. Tlie foregoing 
resolntions were enclosed in it : — 

" Gentlemen : - " Bristol, March 4th, 1774. 

" We the Committee of Correspondence for this Town, are now to 
acknowledge the favor of your friendly letter of the first of Dec, and 
it is with great pleasure and satisfaction we review the noble, spirited, 
and undaunted Resolutions of Boston and places adjacent, and the pat- 
riotic measures by them adopted and carried into execution for the cause 
of liberty with so much perseverance and unanimity. Your assiduou^ 
and strenuous exertions in opposition to the base designs of a venal min-" 
istry to enslave a free people, will transmit your names with renown to 
the latest posterity. We sincerely unite with you in the common cause. 
You will have inclosed the Resolutions lately come into by this Town; 
we shall on all occasions cultivate a friendly correspondence and com- 
munication with you and all others that assert the same generous and 
disinterested principles of Liberty. It is evident the Ministry have long 
meditated a design of taxing America under the specious pretence of 
supporting Government, and thought by monopolizing the tea trade in 
the hands of the East India Company, the Revenue would be increased 
at pleasure, but happy for us the Poison was early discovered under that 
specious pretext. 

" They have already tried if any advantage could be had by force of 
arms, and have no reason to be proud of tlie exj^eriments. 

'• These are some of the sad effects of mistaken policy; they must have 
forgot that maxim in Politics, that the true art of Governing consists in 
not Governing too much. 

" If anything should occur relative to the subject matter of our corre- 
spondence, we shall communicate by our Town Clerk, directed to yours. 
You will take the same method, if agreeable, in keeping up a correspond- 
ence with this Town. 

"We are Gentlemen, with great esteem 

" Your Friends aud Humble Servants. 

"Jos. Russell, Town Clerk. 

"Per order of the Committee of Bristol." 

The Boston Port Bill took effect June 1, 1774 : — 

" At a town meeting held Sept. 19 1774, William Bradford Esquire was 
chosen Moderator. It was voted by said meeting, that a subscription be 



CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.,' BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 197 



immediately opened for the purposes mentioned in the warrant, to wit, 
for tlie relief of the poor distressed inhabitants of Boston, said subscrip- 
tion to be closed on the fust day of Xovember next." 

Tlie sul)scriptioii list was kept in the office of the town clerk. 
The money raised was placed in the l)ands of William Biad- 
ford, and was by him forwarded to Boston. Tlie following- is 
a copy of the subscri})tion paper: — 

" We whose names are underwritten, Inhabitants of the Town of 
Bristol, do severally promise to pay to Joseph Kussell Esq., the present 
Town Clerk, for the Town of Bristol, the several sums afifixed to our 
names, for the support of the poor and distressed Inhabitants of the 
Town of Boston, said money to be sent to the Selectmen of the said 
Town of Boston, and by them to be used at their discretion, and said 
subscription to be closed on the first day of November, Anno 1774. 

"BiusTOL, Sept. 19th, A. D. 1774." 



LAWFUL MONEY. 



William Bradford, . . 
Daniel Bradford, . . 
Anthony Yandoorn, 
Richard Smith, . . , 
John Rowland, Jr., . . 
Jeremiah Ingraham, 
Benjamin Bosworth, 
Nathan Munro, . . . 
Stephen Wardwell, . . 
Stephen Smith, . . . 
Jonathan Diman, . . 
William Lindzey, Jr., . 
Thomas Swan, 
Joseph Wardwell, . . 
Josiah Finney, . . . 
Mark Anthony DeWolf, 
Lemuel Clark, . , . 
James Smith, .... 
Joseph Pratt, .... 
Peter Church, . . . 
John Norris, .... 
William Pearse, . . . 
James ^lunro, .... 
John Glover, .... 
Jonathan Glover, . . 
Joseph Diman, . . . 
Samuel West, .... 



£ 


s- 


c1. 


(). 


0. 





1. 


0. 





(). 


0. 





0. 


(). 





0. 


(). 





0. 


15. 


0. 


0. 


IS. 


0. 


0. 


J2. 


0. 



0. 0. 0. 
0. 1.5. 0. 



0. G. 0. 



0. 


7. 


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0. 


0. 


0. 


0. 


6. 


8. 


0. 


12. 


0. 


0. 


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0. 


0. 


0. 


0. 


0. 


0. 


0. 


0. 


3. 


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18. 


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0. 


12. 


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4. 


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o 


0. 


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4. 



Simeon Bullock. . 
James Nooning, . 
Thomas Jethro, . 
N. Hix West, . . 
William Coggeshall, 
Jeremiah Diman, 
Hezekiah Usher, . 
John Waldron, 
Simeon Potter, 
John May, . . . 
I Jonathan Paissell, 
I Nathaniel Smith, 
I Charles Munro, 
j Josiah Smithy- . . 
Samuel Church, . 
Pkicliard Pearse, . 
Benjamin Smith, 
Daniel Lefavour, 
Joseph Russell, . 
John Howland, . 
Loring- Peck, . . 
William Holmes, 
Mary Paine, . . , 
William Munro, . 
John Coomer, . . . 
William Throope, 
Jeremiah Finney, 



£. s. d. 

0. 1. 0. 

0. 3. 0. 

0. 1. 2. 

0. 3. 0. 



4. 0. 

9. 0. 



0. 12. 
0. IS. 0, 
7. 4 
0. G 
0. 9 
G 



0, 

0, 

0. 

1. 

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0. 15. 0. 

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1. 4. 0. 
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0. (i. 0. 
0. IS. 0. 
0. 9. 0. 
0. 7. G. 
0. 12. 0. 



1. G. 
(1. 0. 
G. 0. 



198 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 



Ebenezer Blake, . . 

Thomas Peck, . . , 
Hezekiah Munro, 
Joseph Reynolds, 

John Usher, . . . 

Nathaniel Gary, . . 

John Burt, . . . . 

Josiah Gushing, . . 
Nathaniel Fales, Jr., 
Samuel Throope, 



£ 


s. 


d. 




£ 


s. 


d. 


0. 


3. 


0. 


Jonathan Peck, . . 


1. 


4. 


0. 


0. 


3. 


0. 


Nathaniel Pearse, Jr., 


0. 


6. 


0. 


0. 


G. 


0. 


Joseph Lindzey, . . 


0. 


6. 


0. 


0. 


18. 


0. 


Joshua Sandford, 


0. 


6. 


0. 


0. 


12. 


0. 


Nathaniel Pearse, 


0. 


18. 


0. 


0. 


18. 


8. 


Shearjashub Bourne, 


0. 


18. 


0. 


1. 


0. 


0. 


Samuel Oxx, . . . 


0. 


6. 


0. 


0. 


6. 


0. 


Nathaniel Fales, . . 


1. 


10. 


0. 


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0. 













0. G. 0. 



48. 4. 4. 



With the money, Mr. Bradford sent this letter : — 

"Bristol, R. I., 30th December, 1774. 
" Gentlemen : — 

•' Agreeable to a vote of the Town of Bristol, appointing me to send 
you the money that should be raised in said Town, for the support of 
the distressed inhabitants of Boston, I now send you by Mr. Mumford, 
the small sum of forty-seven pounds, seventeen shillings, and six pence,* 
lawful money, to be by you disposed of for the purpose aforesaid, at 
your discretion, which was all that could be at this time collected. 
Should have been exceeding glad it had been more, but you may depend 
that all due care will be taken in this town from time to time, to afford 
you the relief your circumstances may require, and our abilities will af- 
ford, to enable you to hold out in so just a cause, against the combina- 
tion of all wicked and mischievous beings, from the highest source of 
evil down to Lord North. That you maybe so enabled to hold out, and 
be finally victorious over your and our enemies, shall be my constant 
care by all the industry in my power to contribute, as it will afford me 
the greatest pleasure on earth . 

"I am. Gentlemen, 

"Your most humble servant 

'• William Bkadford. 
" £47. 17s. 6(1. 
" To Samuel Adams. Esq., and others ; the Committee for 
receiving the Donations for the Town of Boston." 

In January the following answer was received : — 

"BosTOx, January 2d, 1775. 
" Sir: We are much obliged for your care in forwarding to the Com- 
mittee of Donations, the generous subscriptions of our worthy brethren 
of Bristol, for the support of the distressed inhabitants of Boston, amount- 
ing to forty-seven pounds seventeen shillings and six pence,* pr. Mr. 



*£48, is. M. were contributed, 
other ways. 



The small balance must have been expended in 



CORRESPONDENCE, ETC., BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 199 

Mnmford. It shall be applied aj^reeable to the intent of the benevolent 
donors. 

"Inclosed is a printed account of the general method observed by the 
Committee in the distribution of the charities of our friends, which we 
hope will prove satisfactory. 

" The Committee present their sincere thanks in behalf of the Town of 
Boston, for this instance of their kindness, and are particularly obliged 
for their purpose to afford further relief in time to come, should the case 
require it. 

"Our humble acknowledgments are due to God, who has raised up 
benefactors to this much abused and oppressed town. Under all our 
darkness some light hath been made to arise. We trust our Cause, which 
indeed is a common cause and of the greatest importance to America, is 
a righteous cause and that God will maintain it. 

"If He shall please to grant us the Wisdom and Prudence, the Firm- 
ness. Help and Blessing we need, we shall put our enemies to shame, and 
in due time have cause to rejoice in this great Salvation. 
" We are with great Respect 
"Sir, Your much obliged and affectionate 

"Friends and Fellow Countrymen 

" David Jeffries. 
" Pr. order of the Committee of Donations." 
" Mr. William Bradford, at Bristol.'^ 

" III the Mass. Plist. Society archives the correspoiulence of 
tlie Boston committee with the contributors to tlie relief of 
the poor in that town in 1774-5 is preserved. From the let- 
ters that related to Rhode Island, it appears these donations 
were sent : Scituate 120 sheep, Gloucester 95, Smithfield 150, 
Johnston 57, East Greenwich 25 sheep and 4 oxen, Tiverton 
72 sheep, S. Kingstown 185, Providence 136 and £51 in 
cash, Newporl- «1000 or <£300, Cranston 4 oxen, N. Kings- 
town 70 sheep, Bristol £48, AVarwick 5 oxen, N. Providence 
£18. Total 860 sheep, 13 oxen, £417 in money. Little 
Compton sent £30, which does not appear in the correspond- 
ence ; and there were several large subscriptions by private 
persons besides." * 

A glance at the recapitulation of the census returns, given 
on page 192, will show how very generous was the contribu- 
tion of Bristol. 

' *ArnoM'8Histr)r}iofRhndtIs:Jan'i,Vo\. II., pas'" 341. 



200 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

The following communication from the Providence Gazette 
of Oct. 19, 1771, has been mentioned by many historians, 
and is now reprinted for the first time. It occasioned much 
discussion throughout the colony, but did not meet with 
much favor. The printer deemed it necessary to publish 
with it a slight apology for its inti*oduction, and to promise 
the use of his columns for a reply. This Avas published a 
few days later, and very cleverly demolished the arguments 
brought forward : — 

PROPOSALS FOR ALTERING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 

" It is a ■vveU-knovvn truth, that Anarchy and Confusion are as danger- 
ous to any society, as absolute Monarchy and despotism. This truth 
was never better experienced than under the several ..jovernmeuts of 
Ancient Rome, and many other states, which have suffered tlie various 
changes of government. Intestine quarrels and divisions without a 
standing army, seldom fail of proving the downfall of every state in 
which they happen, unless in Subjection to some superior power, as is 
the case with the Colony of Rhode Island. 

" The greatest happiness that any state can enjoy, is to have its rights 
and privileges well secured ; and there is no way whereby this can be 
done, but by conforming to a certain sett of laws and precepts, well 
adapted to the Constitution and nature of the Country, the state having 
power to put in execution those laws and precepts, without which they 
are of no efficacy or consequence whatsoever. If experience did not 
teach us the impossibility of putting good and wholesome laws in 
execution in this Colony, what may be said on this head might be 
justly censured; but since long and woful exijerience evinces the truth 
of the observation, I think it high time that some other plan of govern- 
ment was adopted, that we may have our lands, our goods, and what- 
ever we hold near and dear, secured, and not have a party rabble run 
away with what we have procured, by our indefatigable industry, and 
hard fatigue. 

" The Colony of Rhode Island is too small and contracted, ever to 
prevent the confusion and dreadful consequences of an elective legisla- 
ture. I need not mention the vast expense, as well as the loss of time, 
and corruption of morals which attend this method of election; and 
many other matters, fatal to common right. Again, it often happens 
in small states or commonwealths, where they are indulged with an 
elective legislature, that the Community are so divided in sentiment, 
with respect to those persons whom they esteem properly qualified to 
sustain the highest offices of the state, that that party which gains 
the majority by a single vote, has power to establish the greatest 



CORRESPONDENCE, ETC., BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 201 

Ignoramus at the head of Government, whereby the state may be 
greatly endangered, and exposed not only to the ridicule and derision 
of every policy, but also to final ruin and destruction. 

" Since the truth of what I have preserved can not be denied, I would 
propose that tliis small colony, which is not larger than many of the 
Counties in other Colonies and Provinces of America, be divided; the 
one part ceded to Massachusetts, and the other half to Connecticut; 
that a Committee be appointed for the purpose of making the division, 
and negotiating Avhatever else may be necessary for the same; or else 
that they be directed to apply to his Majesty, that he would be graciously 
pleased to appoint a Governor to preside in and over his Majesty's Eng- 
lish Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

"Much more might be said on this subject, but every person that 
animadverts in the least on the proposition, cannot but discern the 
necessity of a change of government in this Colony. 

"A Friexd to Pkoperty." 
Bkistol, October 16 1771. 



Chapter xxvil 



THE BOMBARDMENT. 

On the afternoon of Saturday, the 7th of October, 1775, 
the British war-vessels, which for some months had been sta- 
tioned at Newport, left their anchorage, and, with a favoring 
breeze from the south, sailed leisurely up th% bay. The fleet 
consisted of three ships of war, the " Rose," the " Glasgow," 
and the " Swan," one bomb-brig, a schooner, and some smaller 
vessels.* Capt. Sir James Wallace led the squadron, in the 
"Rose," his flag-ship. The wind died away as the vessels 
sailed onward, and it was almost sunset when they reached 
Bristol. 

The news of their approach spread quickly through the 
town on the afternoon of that perfect autumnal day. The 
labors of the week were over, and the greater part of the pop- 
ulation, suspecting no evil, assembled upon the wharves to 
gaze upon the unusual spectacle. Never has the harljor of the 
old town beheld a more striking display than was then pre- 
sented. With sails that were only just distended by the dying 
breezes, the ships drifted slowly over the water that rippled 
with gentle murmurings about their bows. The rays of the 
setting sun tinged every mast, and sail, and rope with a golden 
light, making a scene of wondrous beauty, that never faded 
from the recollection of those who beheld it. Everything- 
seemed to speak of peace, except the black mouths of the frown- 

* The Providence Gazette's account says that the fleet consisted of the ' Rose,' 
the ' Glasgow,' and the ' Swan,' with several armed tenders and transports, in all, 
about fifteen sail." Arnold also says fifteen sail. The "Rose" was a frigate car- 
rying twenty guns, the " Glasgow " carried twenty-four, the " Swan," twenty. 



THR BOMBARDMENT. 203 

iiig cannon that here and there lurked, as if forgotten, in the 
dark hulls of the larger shij)s. 

Captain Wallace, in his flag-ship, anclvored within a cable's 
length of what is now the Fall River steamboat wharf ; the 
" Cllasgow " dropped anchor a little further south. The other 
ship, attempting to take a position still further south, grounded 
on the " Middle Gronnd." The schooner ran u[) and took a po- 
sition opposite to the Town-bridge, and within a pistol-shot of 
it, and not far from her the bomb-brig anchored. At eight 
o'clock a royal salute was fired from the flag-ship, and shortly 
after, a l)arge from the same vessel pulled in to the wharf where 
most of the principal men of the town were assembled. The 
commander of the barge, stepping upon the wharf, demanded 
to see some representative man of the town, and William 
Bradford went forward to meet him. 

"The lieutenant informed him Captain Wallace had a de- 
mand to make upon the town, and desired that two or three 
of the principal men, or magistrates of the town, would go 
on board of his ship within an hour and hear his proposals, 
otherwise hostilities would be commenced against the town. 
The above-named gentleman, as a magistrate, replied, that in 
Jiis opinion Captain Wallace was under a greater obligation 
to come ashore and make his demands known to the town, 
than for a magistrate to go- on board of his ship to hear them ; 
and added, that if Captain Wallace would come to the head 
of the wharf the next morning he should l)e treated as a 
gentleman, and the town would consider his demands. With 
this answer the lieutenant returned on Iward the ' Rose.' 
The inhabitants, being made acquainted with the above con- 
versation, repaired to the wharf, and waited with the utmost 
impatience for a reply from Captain Wallace till an hour had 
expired, when the whole fleet began a most heavy cannon- 
ading, and the bomb-vessel to bombard and heave shells and 
carcasses * into the town, which continued without intermis- 
sion an hour and a half. In the meantime, Colonel Potter, 

* Carcasses were hollow, oval vessels, bound together with iron hoops, and filled 
with all kinds of ooinbustible.? to set Arc to luiilding-s. 



204 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

in tlie hottest of the fire, went upon the head of the wliarf, 
hailed the ' Rose,' went on board, and requested a cessation 
of hostilities till the inhabitants might choose a committee to 
go on board and treat with Captain Wallace ; which request 
was complied with, and six hours were allovved for the above 
purpose. Colonel Potter returned and made a report to the 
Committee of Inspection, who chose a select committee to 
hear Captain Wallace's demands ; which, after they had gone 
on board. Captain Wallace informed them were a supply of 
two hundred sheep and tliirty fat cattle. This demand, the 
committee replied, it was impossible to comply with, as the 
country people had come in and driven off their stock, save a 
sheep and some milch cows. After some hours had expired 
during negotiations, without coming to any agreement. Cap- 
tain Wallace told them, ' I have this one proposal to make : 
If you will promise to supply me with forty sheep, at or before 
twelve o'clock, I will assure you that another gun shall not be 
discharged.' The committee, seeing themselves reduced to 
the distressing alternative, either to supply their most invet- 
erate enemies with provisions, or to devote to the flames the 
town, with all the goods, besides near one hundred sick per- 
sons, who could not be removed without the utmost hazard of 
tlieir lives ; I say, seeing themselves reduced to this dreadful 
dilemma, of two evils reluctantly chose the least, by agreeing 
to supply them with forty sheep at the time appointed, which 
was punctually performed. . . . After the ships had re- 
ceived their supply, and stole about ninety sheep and some 
poultry from Popasquash, they weiglied anchor and moored 
at Popasquash Point. The next day they went into Bristol 
Ferry-way and fired a number of shots at the houses and peo- 
ple on each shore. Three of their ships got aground, but the 
tide rising toward evening, they left and have not molested us 
since." * 



* According- to the Providence Gazette, the fleet " left Bristol harbor at 3 o'clock, 
Sunday, and lay some time between Poppasquash and Hog Island. At the last place 
they landed and cut up a quantity of corn. On Monday morning- the ' Rose ' and her 
tender ran ag-roiind on West Muscle-bed Shoal, Rhode Island side, and from thence 
were flred upon by minute men. . . . Several balls went through the ferrj'- 
house at Bi-istol." 



THE BOMBARDMEXT. 205 

The passage just quoted is taken from a letter written by 
LeBarou Bradford, a younger son of William Bradford, to 
correct an inaccurate account of the bombardment, which had 
appeared in the Newport Mercury. With it the account 
given in the '' Annals of Bristol," a series of articles published 
thirty-five years ago in the Bristol Phcnix, agrees in all essen- 
tial particulars. Mrs. Williams, in her Life of General Bar- 
ton, gives a somewhat different version of the affair. Ac- 
cording to Mrs. Williams, the sheep were collected together, 
but were not sent on board, and the British vessels were 
driven from their position by a battery of light artillery 
under the command of Captain Martin, of Seekonk. Her 
account is hardly worthy of belief. At a town-meeting held 
April 17, 1776, XIO, 10s. were ordered to be paid to Captain 
Jonathan Peck " for 21 sheep delivered to Captain Wallace," 
and X9, Os. 6d. to Benjamin Bos worth for nineteen sheep 
delivered to the same person. 

The following poetic effusion was for a while exceedingly 
popular : — 

THE BOMBARDMENT OF BRISTOL. 

In seventeen hundred and seventy-five 
Our Jiristol town was mucli surprised 
By a pack of thievislx villains, 
That will not work to earn their liviuos. 

October, 't was the seventh day, 
As I have heard the people say, 
Wallace, his name be ever curst, 
Came in our harbor just at dusk, 

And there his ships did safely moor, 
And quickly sent his barge on shore 
With orders that should not be broke, 
Or they might expect a smoke. 

Demanding that the magistrates 
Should quickly come on board his ships, 
And let him have some sheep and cattle, 
Or they miglit expect a battle. 

At eight o'clock, by signal given. 
Our peaceful atmosphere was riven 
By British balls, both grape and round, 
As plenty afterward were found. 



206 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

But oh ! to hear the doleful cries 
Of people runuing for their lives! 
Women, with children in their arms. 
Running away to the farms. 

With all their firino- and their skill 
They did not any person kill. 
Xeither was any person hurt 
But the Reverend Parson Burt. 

And, he was not killed by a ball. 

As judged by jurors, one and all; 

But being in a sickly state, 

He frightened fell, which proved his fate. 

Another truth to you I'll tell, 
That you may see they levelled well; 
For, aiming for to kill the people. 
They fired their shot into a steeple. 

They fired low, they fired high, 
The women scream, the children cry; 
And all their firing and their racket 
Shot off the topmast of a packet. 

Many incidents of the bombardment liave been handed down 
to us. It seems probable that the object of Wallace was not 
to harm the town, but only to intimidate its inhabitants. The 
guns of the vessels were discharged at such an angle that 
most of their shot passed over the houses and landed in the 
rising ground behind the town. Some of the buildings, how- 
ever, were pierced by the shot. * Among these was the Bos- 
worth house, of which mention has been made in a former 
chapter. One of the balls struck a locust tree upon State Street, 
and glancing, entered the Walley house, where it was found in 
1840, by some workmen who were repairing the ceiling. An- 
other ball " entered Finney's distil-house, and passed through 
three hogsheads and barrels of rum, and spilt their contents ; " 
more of a misfortune in those days than it would be deemed 
at the present time. A good sized grape-shot pierced the walls 
of Mr. Benjamin Smith's dwelling (on the west side of Hope 
Street, just north of Franklin), and passing over the bed in 

* " The Church, the Meeting House, the Court House, and several dwellings 
were damaged." — Providence Gazette. 



THE BOMBARDMENT. 20T 

which his imbecile son lay sleeping, lodged in the lire-place, 
where it was allowed to remain for some time as a memento. 
A great gap was made in the stone wall near the residence 
of Governor Bradford (northeast corner of Hope and State), 
and while that gentleman was climbing the fence which sepa- 
rated his garden from his house, a frolicsome shot knocked 
into the air the board on which his hand had just rested. 
One man, drawing water from a well, was astonished to find 
the curb falling in splinters from the effects of another ball. 
Even at this day the rusty balls are occasionally turned out by 
the plowmen, as portions of the hill-sides that have been long 
uncultivated are once more prepared for the crops. 

The consternation of the inhabitants during those weary 
hours cannot be described. The mood of nature itself was 
changed, and black storm-clouds took the place of the gorgeous 
skies of a few hours before. Through the darkness that was 
lighted only by the glare of the " carcasses " that the bomb- 
brig belched forth, the frightened people rushed onward to the 
remote farm-houses, which alone seemed to promise them 
safety. An unusually fatal epidemic* had been raging in the 
town for some weeks. William Bradford's wife had been car- 
ried to her grave only the day before, and three corpses w^ere 
still lying unburied. But from their homes more than sixty 
of the sick were hurriedly brought forth on their couches by 
terror-stricken bearers, amid pitiless torrents of rain that en- 
veloped them as with a winding-sheet. It is said that several 
afterwards died, as a result of this exposure. 

And yet, strange to say, no one was struck that night by 
the flying missiles, and when in the morning the people gath- 
ered again in the houses, it seemed that all had been wonder- 
fully preserved from death. But as the hour for morning 
service came, the congregation which for more than thirty 

* The dcsciiptions of the bombardment g-iven in the newspapers of that day all 
make mention of this epidemic. F'rom the Providenc%Gii2C«<; of September 30th, 
we learn what it was. In the account, which is given in that issue, of the funeral 
services of Mr. IJennett Munro, of Bristol (he died September 25th. ag-ed sixty- 
seven, and was " followed to the grave by tliirtccit mournful sons and dauirhters "), 
we read that he died of dysentery, and that '■'■ )<evcnt(eii have died there of that dis- 
ease within a fortnight past." 



208 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

years liad listened to the godly admonitions of the Rev. John 
Burt, inquired in vain for its faithful pastor. For a long time 
he had been sick and feeble, and as the noise of the cannon 
was heard, and the shots went whistling through the air, with 
faltering steps he had tottered forth from his house, and 
joined the throng that was fleeing from the town. No one 
had spoken with him, no one had noticed him. Lying dead 
upon his face in the midst of a field of ripened corn, at last 
his people found him. No angry ball had mangled his fi-ail 
body, but while he was wandering, weak and bewildered, the 
Angel of Death had met him, and with gentle hand had beck- 
oned his eager spirit away from a world that seemed too full 
of woe. 



Chapter xxviii. 



THE BURNING. 

On Sunday, May 25, 1778, at a little before daybreak, a 
band of 500 British and Hessian troops, under the command 
of Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, landed on the shore of tlie 
farm on the west side of the town, wliich now belongs to the 
licirs of the late Samuel ISIartin. Proceeding across the fields 
in a northeasterly direction, they came out upon the main 
road very near the place where the residence of Mrs. Swett 
now stands. Thence marching northward, they entered War- 
ren, leaving behind at Burr's Hill a small detachment to 
guard their rear. At Warren they quickly put to flight the 
small number of inhabitants who seemed inclined to dispute 
their march, disabled several pieces of cannon, and then hur- 
ried onward to the Kickemuit River. Here, at a point just 
below the present stone bridge, a large number of flat-boats 
had been collected by the Americans, with the design of mak- 
ing an expedition against the enemy. To destroy these boats 
was the special object of the British forces. The troops piled 
seventy or more of them together and burnt them. They 
also burnt the row-galley, " Washington," and a grist-mill. 
Returning to Warren they blew up the powder magazine, set 
fire to the Baptist Church, the Baptist parsonage, and several 
other buildings, and having pillaged many houses and taken 
many prisoners, proceeded by the main road to Bristol. On 
their route through Warren, to and from the river, they 
passed through Main and Market streets.* 

* " Aged people, still living- amonj?- us, well remember the appearance of these 
soldiers as they passed through the town. The British were dressed in old-lasluoned 

U 



210 HISTORY OF BRISTOL, 

"At Burr's Hill were, two or tliree houses, as there are 
at the present time. In one of these houses Richard Smitli, 
Esq., Sheriff of the County, had taken up his residence, 
removino" from the compact part of the town after the bom- 
bardment. When the troops passed up, his wife, known to 
many now living as ' Aunt Susie Smith,' took the alarm, 
and gathering their valuables together, packed them in a 
chest, and buried them in a smoke-house in the rear. Two 
of the soldiers visited the house, and were given some break- 
fast. As they left the table, one of them seized the silver 
teapot, saying lie was going to have that. Mrs. Smith, who 
was a little woman, but very smart, also seized hold of the 
teapot, saying he should not have it. After quite a severe 
struggle, during which Mrs. Smith plied her tongue with 
great vigor, the soldiers retreated from the house, and the 
teapot remained with its owner." * 

As the soldiers marched along the main road, small squads 
were sent out from time to time, to visit the farm-houses 
which stood back from the road, and many farmers were 
thus taken j)risoners. Among those captured were John 
Coomer, Jonathan Peck and his negro man Nero, Loring 
Peck, and Peter Church, the father of the Peter Church of 
the present day, who still lives upon the ancestral farm. 
As the troops approached the house of Joseph Reynolds 
(at present the home of his great-grandson, Samuel G. Rey- 
nolds), all the family, with the exception of Mr. Reynolds him- 

red coats, cocked hats and small clothes, with a great display of laced trimmiugs, 
shoe and knee buckles. The Hessians wore enormous fur caps, and large, wide, 
and loose boots, into which they thrust all kinds of articles pilfered from the 
houses ; and these articles hanging over the tops of their boots, g-ave them a sin- 
g'ularly grotesque appearance as they left the town. A lady now living, and 
several others, were at the time in the house which was afterwards Bradshaw's 
take-house, on the east side of Main Street. They saw the troops pass by In hasty 
retreat, and at a short distance in the rear a single individual, encumbered with a 
Ta\g drum, unable to keep up with the main body. These heroic women ran out 
and suri'ounded him, and told him he was their prisoner, when he Immediately sur- 
rendered, saying he was glad of it, for he was faint and tired. This prisoner was 
afterwards exchanged for one of the citizens of Warren." — Fe«seJide)i's History of 
Waircn, p«f;>: 94, Note. 

* From an article in the Bristol Phenix, published on the one hundredth anniver- 
sary of the burning of the town. 



THE BURNING. 



211 




Residence of Mr. Frederick A. Easterbrooks. 



self, who was suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism, 
left the house and took refuge in a building which stood near 
the mill, at a considerable distance from the house. The offi- 
cer in command of the detachment which visited this building 
was very gentlemanly in his behavior, and did not allow his 
men to^ molest in any way those who had fled thither. 
Among these fugitives was a slave, named Cato, whose in- 
flammable nature was so stirred up by the excitement which 
the occasion! produced, that it was only with the greatest 
difficulty that he was prevented from discharging his musket 
at the soldiers as they marched away. Not as considerate as 
liis [subordinate, was the officer in command of the main 
body, for Mr. Reynolds was forced to leave his sick-room 
and accompany the troops to Newport, whence, however, 
he came Ijack not many days after, having been exchanged. 

Colonel Campbell had been directed not to attempt to 
force an entrance into Bristol, if he should find any troops 



212 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

drawn up to oppose him. When, therefore, the column 
reached the road leading to Poppasquash, a halt was com- 
manded, and scouts were sent forward to reconnoitre. At 
this crisis an aged woman was discovered hastily removing 
from a wall some garments which had been placed there to 
dry. Her the scouts seized, and threatened they would take 
as a prisoner to Newport, unless she informed them of the 
number and location of the American troops, and the situa- 
tion of the leading houses. The terrified woman quickly 
gave the desired information, and the British commander, 
finding no enemy to oppose him, marched down through' 
Hope Street. 

The American forces in the town at the time numbered 
about three hundred men. They consisted of a portion of 
a regiment of militia, under com*jiand of Col. Nathaniel 
Gary, and Capt. Nathaniel Pearse's company of artillery.* 
The militia were quartered in various houses on Hope Street ; 
the headquarters of the artillery were at the south corner of 
Hope and Burton streets. When the alarm was given the 
militia were hurriedly drawn up on State Street, in the rear 
of the Court House, and the artillery formed in line upon 
Burton Street. As is usual in such cases, the number of the 
attacking party was grossly exaggerated by those who brought 
the news of their approach to Colonel Cary, and with his 
small force he did not deem it advisable to oppose them. He 
therefore marched his men out of the town, going by tlie 
Mount Lane to the Back road. The town was thus placed at 
the disposal of the Englisli. 

At the '' Parson Burt House," which stood near the spot 
where Mr. Thomas. J. Usher's house now stands, the work of 
destruction began. Until his death, three years before, Par- 
son Burt had been a most zealous patriot, and seems specially 
to have incurred the enmity of the British by his bold and 
scathing denunciations of the course pursued by the English- 

* In January, 1TT6, by order of the Leg-islature, " artillery companies, with two 
fleld-pieces and fourteen men each, were formed in all the seaboai'd towns, seven- 
teen in number." 



THE BURNING. 213 

Oovenimeut. To the house in wliich he had lived, and in 
which his family were supposed to be living, the torch was 
first applied. With the two barns whicli stood near it, it was 
entirely consumed. Parson Burt's family were not living in 
the house at the time, however. At his death tliey had re- 
moved to a house which stood north of his old dwelling and 
considerably back from the street. Thus they were not harmed 
by the fire. Mr. Burt's house was occupied at the time I)y a 
man named Wilkins. Opposite it was the one-story cottage 
of William Christopher, a Scotchman whose wife had died 
some months before. Mr. Christopher was away upon Po])- 
pasquash, with the troops guarding the barracks, and his four 
children were left alone in the house. When the soldiers 
entered, to plunder it and set it on fire, the three elder girls 
liuddled together, almost beside themselves from fright. But 
the motherless babe, who was held in the arms of her eldest 
sister, knew no fear ; as the brilliant uniforms and glancing 
weapons approached, the little one stretched out her hands 
and smiled upon the officer in command. The smile went 
straight to the soldier's heart, and taking the child in his arms 
lie asked her name. He was told that it was Mary. " That 
is the name of my mother and sister ; we are not sent here to 
destroy innocent children, and, God help me ! I will not," he 
said, and turning about, left the house unharmed. 

Next south of Parson Burt's house was the dwelling of Dr. 
Richmond; this was Inirned, as was also Dr. Aaron Bourne's 
house, which stood on the corner where the rectory of Trinity 
Church now stands. In the possession of Doctor Bourne was 
a large amount of Continental paper money. When the ap- 
proach of the troops was proclaimed, the family, fearing rob- 
bery but never dreaming of anything worse, hid the money 
in the garret, tucking it away behind the rafters. It was 
burned with the house. The subsequent depreciation in the 
value of the Continental currency did much to reconcile Doc- 
tor Bourne to his loss. At this corner a few royalists had 
prepared a cask of punch with which to welcome their friends, 
but the troops had stern business before them, and a well- 



214 HISTORY OP BRISTOL, 

directed kick from an officer's foot sent the liquor trickling 
down the street. On the west side of Hope Street, upon the 
lot where the Boston Store now stands, was the dwelling of 
a Mrs. Woodbury. This was set on fire. No water could be 
procured, but the women of the house, coming to its rescue 
from the dairy with large milk-pans full of milk, succeeded 
in extinguishing the flames. When the building was torn 
down in 1868, the scars which the fire had made were once 
more brought to light. Between Bradford and State streets, 
on the west side of Hope Street, were three small buildings, 
— a blacksmith's shop, a carriage-house, and a store-house. 
These were burned, as was also the dwelling of William Coxx 
(on the site of Mr. Farrington's store), and Stephen Smith's 
house, on the northwest corner of State and Hope streets. 
On the northeast corner of these sti-oets was the residence of 
Deputy-Governor W^illiam Bradford. It was, of course, de- 
stroyed.* On State Street the troops turned aside to fire the 
house of Anthony Van Doom, next west of Stephen Smith's 
house. 

In the house of Hezekiah Usher, southeast corner of Hope 
and State, many women and children were gathered. The 
owner of the house was a Tory, and the neighbors thought 
that it at least would be spared. Into it some of the soldiers 
at first went without their officers, but at the sound of the 
shrieks which greeted their rude entrance, a lieutenant came 
to the relief of the terrified women, and protected them from 
further violence. They were conducted to a place of safety, 
but the house was burned. Thence south, all the houses on 
the east side as far as Church Street, — Nathaniel Smith's, 
John Waldron's, the house belonging to the heirs of William 
Wardwell on the north corner of Court Street, Hopestill Pot- 
ter's on the south corner, and the Oxx house near Church 
Street, were set on fire. Of these the Oxx house alone was 
saved. Jonathan Fales' house, on Church Street, near Hope, 

* When the house was flred, oue of Mr. Bradford's negro servants was about 
sitting- down to his dinner. With his frying-pan in his hand he ran to the East 
Burying-Ground, and there having seated himself upon a tombstone, calmly pro- 
ceeded to finish his meal. 



THE BURNING. 



215 




Residence of Mr. Augustus 0. Bourn. 

was also destroyed. On tlie soutliwest corner of State Street, 
James Smith's house was burned. Between this house and 
the Episcopal Church tliere were no buildings. The particu- 
lars of the destruction of St. Michael's Church have been 
already given on page 152. There were no buildings upon 
the west side, between Church and Constitution streets. 
William Munro's house, which stood near where Mr. Brun- 
sen's house now stands, was the last burned on that side. 
Going south from Churcli Street, the soldiers burned Col. 
Simeon Potter's house, southeast corner of Church and Hope, 
Thomas Martin's on the south corner of Bylield Street, Sam- 
uel Liscomb's (not far from Mr. Frederick A. Easterbrooks' 



216 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

house), and Mark Anthony DeWolf s house on south corner 
of Burton Street. This last house was used as the headquar- 
ters of the artillery company. It was one of the oldest houses 
in the town, and was built by Stephen Burton, one of the Four 
Proprietors. 

About thirty buildings in all (the Episcopal Church, nine- 
teen dwelling-houses, and some smaller buildings), were en- 
tirely destroyed before the troops re-embarked upon their 
boats. The houses burned were either used as barracks 
or were the homes of prominent rebels. Thirty or more 
of the citizens were carried away as prisoners. Among 
these was Hezekiah Usher. It is related that when the troops 
reached the corner of State Street, their commander was 
addressed in a rather pompous manner by a gentleman, with 
the salutation, "I am a friend of the king." "• You are just 
the man we want. Fall in ! " was the reply, and he was 
carried away captive. Perhaps this may have been Mr. Usher. 
While the other prisoners were sent at once on board a prison- 
ship, he was allowed to go at large on parole, through the 
kind exertions of Governor Wanton in his behalf. Many of 
the slaves were also carried to Newport, and it is said that 
they were treated with greater severity than were their mas- 
ters. Captain Westcott and nine privates, who had been sta- 
tioned at Poppasquash, were taken by a boat's crew wliich 
the British sent thither to surprise them. 

By the time the retreating column reached the Ferry road 
the Americans had rallied, and had begun to attack them from 
behind. A platoon of prisoners was therefore formed in the 
rear of the soldiers to protect them. This measure furnished 
a very effectual relief, and probably saved many lives. When 
the troops landed, an express had been sent by the Americans 
to General Sullivan, at Providence, to apprise him of the at- 
tack and to implore aid. Colonel Barton, with about twenty 
horsemen, at once set off to harass the enemy and to detain 
them until the main body should arrive. Having collected 
two hundred or more volunteers upon the way he attacked 
the foe near Bristol Ferry, and was severely wounded in the 



THE BURNING. 217 

tliigh. The British loss in this skirmish was never ascer- 
tained, but it was supposed to be considerable, as much blood 
was found upon the road along which they passed. The 
Americans had four men wounded. 

The lot of the captives on board of the prison-ship was 
wretched in the extreme. Among them was William Glad- 
ding, the miller, whose grist-mill stood on the point at the 
west end of Hope Street, which is almost opposite the resi- 
dence of Mr. A. 0. Bourn. " One day, after they had been 
there some two weeks, Col. Peter Church, who found it hard 
to get along with such fare, addressing Mr. Gladding, who was 
quite an old man, asked : ' How long, do you think, Mr. Glad- 
ding, before we shall be released ? ' Mr. Gladding, who was 
somewhat noted for his jokes, replied, ' I hope not soon.' 
Colonel Church, surprised at his reply, said, "• Why do you 
say so, Mr. Gladding ? ' when the latter answered, ' Because 
all my life I have been wanting to see rich and poor on the 
same footing, and all fare alike, and we have it here.' This 
' communistic ' reply caused a hearty laugh." * 

Varying accounts have been written concerning the treat- 
ment which the inhabitants received at the hands of the ma- 
rauders. Mrs. Williams, in her Life of General Barton., 
gives free reins to her imagination in the following passage. 
" The inhabitants were plundered of everything valuable they 
(the British) could lay hands on. The females even had their 
clothes taken — all that were deemed of sufficient value to carry 
away — and their rings forced from their fingers. Even the 
colored women were commanded to deliver up theirs, mostly 
brass. So grasping were these robl)ers that the papers of that 
day state that they carried away a cargo of brass ornaments 
plundered from the servants of the different families." f The 
conduct of the common soldiers was undoubtedly rude, and 
even brutal, but the officers seem to have done all that v;as 
in their power to restrain their excesses. Of the truth of 

* Phenix article. 

+ Life of Gawral Barton, page 74. The account, given on the next page of tlie 
same book, of the treatment which Mrs. Usher received, is grossly exaggei-ated. 



218 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

this statement many traditions bear witness. " At the north- 
east corner of Hope and Union streets stood the house of 
William Hoar. Two or three soldiers entered the house. One 
of them seized a string of gold beads that were about the 
neck of a young woman. Th« string was broken, and the 
beads rolled upon the floor. While the scramble was going 
on for the beads an officer entered and, learning what had 
been done, kicked the soldier out of the house and apologized 
for his rudeness." * 

* Phenix article. 



Chapter xxix. 



THE CONGREGATIOXAL CHURCH. 
1T20-1880. 

On the 22d of ."-September, 1720, the first day of October 
was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer by the church 
in Bristol, in view of the unhappy condition into wliich it 
had fallen by reason of the controversy concerning Mr. 
McSparran. Very many ministers from the neighboring 
town were present by invitation on the day appointed for tlie 
special services, and through their wise counsels unity was 
once more secured to the divided church. 

Dec. 22, 1720, on the one hundredth anniversary of the 
landing of the Pilgrims, the church chose the Rev. Nathaniel 
Cotton to be its pastor. The town ratified the choice in the 
succeeding January, voted Mr. Cotton £100 towards the ex- 
penses of his settlement, and a salary of £100 per annum, 
and the '' strangers' contribution." At a subsequent meeting, 
the " improvement of the ministry lands " was bestowed upon 
him. Aug. 31, 1721, he was duly ordained as pastor, the 
Rev. Joseph Belcher,* of Dedham, preaching the ordination 
sermon. 

Nathaniel Cotton was descended from the Rev. John 
Cotton, of Boston, who came from England to this country in 
1633. His father was the Rev. Roland Cotton, of Sandwich ; 
his mother was Elizabeth, the only daugliter of Nathaniel 

* A portrait of Mr. Bflelier may now be seen in tlie cabinet of the Rhode Island 
Historical Society. 



220 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Saltonstall, of Haverhill. He was born at Sandwich, Mass., 
June 17, 1698, and graduated at Harvard College in 1717. 
He was but twenty-three years of age when he came to this 
town, — too young a man, it would seem, to direct the church 
in those days of violent disputes. Notwithstanding his 
youth, his ministry appears to have been most successful. 
Over one hundred baptisms were reported during his term of 
ofhce, and the meeting-house was thoroughly repaired and 
greatly improved. Not long after his settlement in Bristol, 
he married the widow of William Sanford, of Newport, by 
whom he had eight children, four sons and four daughters. 
The labors of his office soon proved too much for the strength 
of the young pastor. He died July 3, 1729. Of him Mr. 
Burt says : " He was a man of flaming zeal and undissembled 
piety, of singular prudence, of admirable patience, and for the 
cause of Truth and Righteousness he was as bold as a lion." * 
" Shortly after the decease of Mr. Cotton, the church and 
town, with a remarkable degree of unanimity, united in 
calling the Rev. Barnabas Taylor, voting him two hundred 
pounds for settlement, and a yearly salary of one hundred 
and forty pounds, together with the use or income of the 
Ministry lands, and the strangers' contribution. The call 
■was accepted, and he was duly installed the Fourth Pastor, 
1729, December 25th. There are no church records during 
this ministry, and we have no means of knowing any fruits 
of his labors. Mr. Burt says, ' he was much admired at 
first ; ' but for some cause, respecting which the record is 
silent, he failed to give satisfaction, and, by the advice of an 
Ecclesiastical Council, was dismissed 1740, June 3d." f Mr. 
Taylor was a graduate of Harvard College, in the class of 
1721. After his dismission from the church he devoted 
himself to the work of teaching. It was during his pastorate 
that that fearful disease, the " throat distemper," swept along 

* Mr. Cotton's three brothers, John, Josiah, and Ward, were all graduates of 
Harvard College, and all Congregational ministers. Josiah Cotton was for several 
years pastor of the Beneficent Congregational Church of Providence. 

+ Rev. Mr. Lane's Manual, page 119. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 221 

the Atlantic coast. " It was the greatest scourge ever known 
in Xew England, and was especially fatal to children. It is 
described as a ' swelled throat, with white or ash-colored 
specks, an efflorescence on the skin, great debility of the 
whole system, and a strong tendency to putridity.' " * 

In the year 1736 more than thirty children died in Bristol 
of this disease. One of the stones in the 'East Burying- 
Ground commemorates " six children of Deacon Benjamin 
Gary and Mrs. Susanna his wife, who all died of the throat 
distemper within the space of one month, anno 1736." 

Mr. Taylor's successor was the Rev. John Burt, ordained 
May 13, 1741. Mr. Burt was a native of Boston, born in 
1716. He graduated at Harvard in 1736. When he assumed 
the charge of the church, it jiumbered 77 members, — 28 men 
and 49 women. During his thirty-four years of service, "65 
were admitted to the full communion, 118 consented to the 
covenant commonly called the ' half-way covenant,' by virtue 
of wliich they were permitted to present their children in 
baptism, but not to partake of the Lord's Supper (this plan 
of admission to partial ordinances was abolished by vote of 
the church at the settlement of the Rev. Henry Wight), and 
526 persons were baptized." f 

At his coming Mr. Burt found that the church records 
which his predecessors had left, were exceedingly meagre. 
With a just sense of the rights of posterity in this regard, he 
wrote, from the information then at his command, a very con- 
cise account of the past history of his charge, and a sketch 
of its condition as he found it. With this account he pre- 
faced the records, which he kept with much fullness and ac- 
curacy during his whole life. It is this account which has 
been so often quoted in these pages. The tragic death of Mr. 
Burt, on the 7th of October, 1775, has been already described ; 
the subsequent burning of his house by the British troops. 
May 25, 1778, has also been mentioned. During his ministry 
the town was annexed to Rhode Island, and he was conse- 

* ArwAcl's Rhode laUmd, Vol. II., page IIG. 
tDr. Shepard's Historical Discourse. 



222 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

quently the last minister of the Congregational Church who 
was settled by vote of the town. His salary, voted in town- 
meeting, Jan. 5, 1740-41, * was <£250 in silver money, at 28 
shillings per ounce, or its equivalent in paper currency, the 
" strangers' contribution," and the improvement of the par- 
sonage-house and ministry lands. 

The shadow of the coming Revolution disturbed the pleasant 
relations which for many years had existed between Mr. Burt 
and the venerable rector of St. Michael's Church. Mr. Usher 
was a staunch royalist. In his public addresses he counseled 
passive obedience and non-resistance, arguing that " the powers 
that be are ordained of God." If tradition is to be believed, 
Mr. Burt responded to these utterances in words of great 
force and vigor. Of the sentiments which Mr, Usher pro- 
claimed, he said, " it is a damnable doctrine, and none but 
fools will believe it." 

During the dark days which followed the death of Mr. Burt 
no effort was made to secure a settled pastor for the church. 
Any attempt of the kind would have been almost entirely 
useless. Many of the congregation had left the town, and 
those who remained were so cramped in means that they 
could not contribute anything toward the support of a minis- 
ter. When life came back to the place, at the close of the 
war, active measures were at once taken to infuse new vigor 
into the church. In 1783 a subscription for a permanent 
fund, "the annual interest of which to be appropriated for the 
support of an Orthodox Congregational Minister," was started. 
Oct. 4, 1784, a charter was granted by the Legislature of 
Rhode Island, to the " Catholic Congregational Society, of 
Bristol, R. I.," " for the purpose of raising a fund by free 
and voluntary subscriptions, contributions, legacies and dona- 
tions, for the support of public worship in the Congregational 
Society in the town of Bristol, of which the Rev. John Burt 
was the late Pastor." 

* Hereafter, the dates will be given according- to tbe Gregorian Calendar. In 
1752, that calendar was adopted in England and her colonies, and the new year was 
made to begin on the 1st of January, instead of the 25th of March. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 



223 



--..i 




The Town Halt. 



In 1784 the old meeting-house, in which the congregation 
had met for one hundred years, was torn down. The second 
house of worship was erected at tlie corner of Bradford and 
Hope streets. It was raised June 12, 1784, and finished and 
dedicated Jan. 5, 1785, the day on which the Rev. Henry 
Wight was ordained pastor. It was bailt in the style of 
architecture which then prevailed among the Congregational 
churches, " with square pews, high pulpit. Deacon's seat in 
front, and sounding-board overhead." Its walls were after- 
ward covered with " hard finish," and the square pews were 
supplanted by those of more modern style. The house stood 
in Bradford Street, fronting on Hope Street. ' The two elms 
which iiow stand outside the curbing, and the open space 
north of the house on the southeast corner, serve to keep the 
fact fresh in our memories. This building was presented to 
the town in 1856, the beautiful stone church in which the 



224 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

society now worships having just been completed. By the 
town it was moved to its present location on Bradford Street, 
where it is now used as the Town Hall. Its exterior appears 
very much as it did in the days of Parson Wight, only a few 
unimportant changes having been made. The interior of the 
building has been several times altered. As soon as it came 
into the possession of the town, a second floor was put in, and 
in its second story for a few years (from 1858 to 1864), the 
State Normal School found a home. In the rooms which the 
Normal School had occupied, the sessions of the High School 
were held, from the year 1865 until the completion of the 
" Byfield School " in 1873. Four years ago the second floor 
was taken away, and the present arrangement of galleries, 
etc., was made. 

Henry Wight, the sixth pastor, was born in Medfield, Mass., 
May 26, 1752, and graduated from Harvard College in 1782. 
He found but thirtj^-six members (seven males, twenty-nine 
females) when he assumed the charge of the church. Two 
hundred and twenty-eight additions to its membership were 
made during his term of service. " His ministry, continuing 
for nearly half a century, longer than that of any other pas- 
tor, was characterized by catholicity in intercourse with other 
denominations, and an amiability of spirit and fidelity to his 
convictions of right, which won respect and confidence. He 
took an active interest in the political questions of the day, and 
did not hesitate to introduce topics of this nature in his 
pulpit ministrations, which offended some whose views dif- 
fered from his, and led to their withdrawal from the society. 
He was singularly faithful in recording all the votes of the 
church, and even the informal proceedings of conferences 
and committee meetings. He also kept for many years quite 
a full record of current events in the town, particularly of 
marriages and deaths, and this book has already proved to be 
of invaluable worth in proving titles to property and to the 
bounties and pay of soldiers, and others, who died in the 
Government service." * 

* Mr. Lane's Manual, page 136. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 225 

The following letter was addressed to Mr. Wight by the 
men who disliked his political sermons. It bears no date, 
but must have been written before 1803, inasmuch as after 
that year we find most of its signers enrolled as members of 
St. Michael's Parish. It is inserted to show how intense 
was the party spirit of the age. A manuscript copy of tlie 
original paper, made at the time of its presentation, is now 
in possession of Mr. John P. Reynolds, a descendant of one 
of its signers : — 

"Sir: — 

"We the undersigned being your particular friends, and perhaps 
Equally desirous of preserving undisturbed every rational ancient form 
of Public Worship, with those, who, from political motives, have been 
of late unusually clamorous against the Legislature of this State for 
opposing a motion in its late session, recommending to the citizens of 
said State the keeping a day of public Thanksgiving; — being also sat- 
isfied in our opinion, that the Members of said Lcgislatui-e, consist- 
ing principally of certain sects and representatives of those sects, as 
Quakers, Baptists, etc., were conscientiously actuated in their opposition 
to the legislative api^ointment of said day of Thanksgiving, — exercis- 
ing that great fundamental principle of religious liberty expressly 
guaranteed to the citizens of said State in their Charter granted by 
Charles 2^ — principles explicitly recognized too by the various charters 
and constitutions of every State in the Union; — and having moreover, 
heard on days of public worship, the public Teachers of Religion, in- 
stead of inculcating the salutary Doctrine of our Savior (the object of 
their settlement), advocating the Politics of a Political Faction by grossly 
censuring the majority of the Legislature of said State * for having merely 
exercised that religious liberty, ' sought with so much travail,'' by our Fore- 
fathers, particularly by the Beva Eager Williams, our First Settler; do, 
therefore, and for the following, amongst a variety of other substantial 
reasons, declare our exi)ress Disapprobation against your perverting the 
sacred Desk into a Stage for the purpose of exhibiting political Disquisi- 
tions — especially against the Legislature of said State, viz — 

" l*t. Your Society contracted with you for the performance of the 
religious duties of a faithful Minister of the Gospel, not for the per- 
formance of those of a political Expositor, or a Eeviler of legislative 
Authorities. 

" 2'"y- Gentlemen of your Clerical Profession ought to be the last 
persons in the world to obtrude the boisterous Subjects of Politics, 
in hours of public worship, upon the religious meditations of your 
Societies. 

" 3'iiy. Your Occupation as a public Teacher of Religion is sufficiently 
copious to occupy more than all your attention. 

"4thiy. iij republican Governments, like ours, the citizens have equal, 
15 



226 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

if not better sources of political Information than those derived from 
the Clergy. 

" 5thiy. Tije exclaiming against legislative Proceedings, in public Asso- 
ciations, has a direct tendency to disseminate Discord amongst Neigh- 
bors, and to subvert the very basis of all Civil Governments; and 

"e'hiy. VVhen men of your Calling (of sufficient ability) are disposed 
to become the Detailers of i>olitical Scandal, they, taking advantage of 
the confidence reposed in them by the unsuspecting religious Orders, 
liave generally become vicious Partizans in Politics, if not dangerous 
tools of Despotism. 

"Although it is our most sincere wish to continue your Friends and 
Parishioners, yet unless you desist from intermeddling with political 
subjects, however against our inclination it maybe, we shall be obliged 
to withdraw ovxrselves from the Society. 

(Signed by) Charles DeWolf, 

Joseph Keynolds, 
John DeWolf, 
Barnard Smith, 
James DeWolf, and by 
several other Parishioners." 
*" "In your Thanksgiving Sermon, after commenting upon the proceed- 
ings of our State Legislature, you made use of the following, or similar 
observation, to wit, ' that it is to be feared that the conduct of a major- 
ity of the Legislature of this State tends more to tlie promotion of anar- 
chy and confusion than good order.' But while we mentionthe above, 
it is just, however, to observe, (if it can be of any consolation to you), 
that the above remark, tho' tending directly to propagate the principles 
of disorganization, was not so extraordinary as an expression not long 
since used by an Episcopalian preacher, who to promote the great cause 
of Federalism, (as we presume) had the impudence to accuse the ma- 
jority of said Legislature, because it would not interfere with the So- 
cieties of the various Denominations of this State in recommending 
a public day of Tlianksgiving (not a day of Christmas), yes, this Fed- 
eralist, who openly avows the British Government to be the best in the 
world, accused the majority of said Legislature of being actuated with 
Principles of Infidelity ! ! !" 

Dr. Wight was the sole pastor of the church until 1815, 
when the Rev. Joel Mann was ordained as his colleague. 
During the revival of 1812 the Rev. Dr. Isaac Lewis, of New 
York, journeying in search of health, came to the town, and 
for six months was employed as Dr. Wight's assistant. He 
was invited to settle as colleague pastor, but declined. At 
his own request Dr. Wight was dismissed from his pastorate 
Nov. 11, 1828, but continued to reside in Bristol until his death. 
He lived in the brick house at the northwest corner of Brad- 



THE CONGRTOATIONAL CHURCH. 



227 




Residence of Mrs. R. D. Smith. 



ford and High streets, which is now used for a grocery store 
and market. He was a member of the Board of Fellows of 
Brown University from 1793 to 1833, and received the degree 
of Doctor of Divinity from that institution in 1811. He died 
in Bristol, Aug. 12, 1837, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. 

The Rev. Joel Mann, who was settled as Dr. Wight's col- 
league Nov. 15, 1815, was born at Oxford, N. H., and gradu- 
ated at Dartmouth College in 1810. He served as pastor of 
the church until Sept. 14, 1826. One hundred and thirty 
additions to the church were made during his pastorate. He 
is still living in Brooklyn, X. Y. 

During Mr. Mann's residence in Bristol, the " Hall " was 
erected in which the conference-meetings were held for so 
many years. Before its erection, meetings were held and 
lectures delivered in private houses. The first hall used for 



228 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

the purpose stood near the residence of Mrs. Richard D. 
Smith, on State Street. Of this building the church used the 
second story only ; Mr. AVyatt Manchester used the lower 
story as a school-room'. It was called the " Blue Hall," and 
was finally removed to the " Neck " and converted into a 
dwelling-house. Afterwards, another hall on State Street 
was used, and then the Court House was hired for the days 
when the court was not in session. In 1821-22, on the 
parsonage lot, on the north side of Bradford Street, a build- 
ing was erected for conference uses, at a cost of about $720. 
It was a plain, wooden structure, measuring forty by thirty 
feet, with walls ten feet high and an arched ceiling. It was 
furnished with wooden benches, the seats on either side of 
the desk, intended for the elders of the congregation, being 
considerably higher than the others. " One of the builders 
wished to have it called ' Puritan Hall,' and cut those words 
with considerable care on what he designed for the corner- 
stone ; but another, with iconoclastic tendencies, broke the 
stone in pieces with a maul, so the edifice was ever spoken of 
as simply ' The Hall.' " * On the completion of the Memorial 
Chapel, in 1870, the building was sold to the Second Advent 
Society. By them it was moved to its present location ^ 
near the corner of High and Church streets. 

In the spring of 1815 the first Sunday School connected 
with the church was established. It was continued until 
the succeeding winter. In 1816 another Sunday School was 
opened. This was managed with considerable success by 
various individuals until the 26th of June, 1820, when the 
church by formal vote assumed its charge. 

Nov. 12, 1828, Rev. Isaac Lewis was installed as pastor. 
He continued to labor in the town until his voice failed him, 
when, by his own request, he was dismissed Sept. 28, 1831. 
Mr. Lewis was the son of the Rev. Dr. Isaac Lewis, of Wilton, 
Conn. He was born at Wilton, Jan. 1, 1773. He graduated 
at Yale College in 1794, and pursued his theological studies 
under the direction of Doctors Stiles and Dwight, of the same 

*Mr. Lane's Manual, page 117. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 229 

institution. Previous to his coming to this town he was 
settled at Cooperstown, N. Y., at Goshen, N. Y., and at 
Greenwich, Conn. In 1830, under his ministrations, another 
revival was felt in the church, but its manifestations were 
much less wonderful than those which had preceded it. Mr. 
Lewis received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Dela- 
ware College in 1844. He died in New York City, Sept. 23, 
1854, in the eighty-second year of his age. 

The ninth pastor Avas the Rev. John Starkweather, a na- 
tive of Worthington, Conn., and a graduate of Yale College 
in the class of 1825. He was installed Dec. 14, 1831. His 
connection with the church was brief. The dissatisfaction 
and want of confidence in him which Avas felt among the 
members of his congregation, was at length expressed in a 
written communication, signed by twenty-one male members. 
The matter was referred to an Ecclesiastical council, who 
advised the dissolution of the pastoral relation. He was 
dismissed Dec. 29, 1834. 

The Rev. Dr. Shepard was Mr. Starkweather's successor. 
Thomas Shepard was born in Norton, Mass., May 7, 1792. 
He graduated from Brown University in 1813, and from the 
Andover Theological Seminary in 1816, From 1816 to 
1819 he was employed as a missionary and teacher in the 
State of Georgia. June 16, 1819, he was settled at Ashfield, 
Mass., as the colleague of the Rev. Nehemiah Porter. He 
remained at Ashfield al)Out fourteen years, and was after- 
wards, for about two years, an agent of the American Bil)le 
Society. He was installed as pastor of this church April 
30, 1835. In the earlier years of his ministry in this town 
the parsonage on Bradford Street was built. In 1855 the 
present Congregational Church building was commenced. 
It was dedicated Nov. 25, 1856. 

" The house is located on the corner of Bradford and High streets, 
fronting on the latter. It has three entrances in front, and a rear 
entrance at the southeast corner, leading to the library and the pulpit, 
and also leading to the chapel recently built. It has a tower on the 
northwest corner, eighteen feet square, with buttresses extending up- 
ward about eighty feet, surmounted with belfry and turrets. The full 
dimensions of the house are as follows: Length, 101 feet; width, 67 



230 



HISTOItY OP BKISTOL. 




The Congregational Church. 



feet; walls 28 feet high 
in the clear, and 39 feet 
from the floor to the 
apex of the nave of the 
main arch. The stylft of 
architecture is gothic. 
The trimmings and but- 
tresses are of pure gran- 
ite; the filling-up is of a 
stone somewliat different 
in quality, presenting a 
pleasing variety in figure 
and color. The roof is 
covered with slate and 
tin. The interior is fin- 
ished with groin-arched 
ceiling, with eight pend- 
ants or corbels for spring- 
ing the arches, and from 
which depend the chan- 
deliers. The pews, numbering 114 on the main floor, are circular,trimmed 
with black walnut and neatly upholstered. The pulpit, communion table, 
and chairs are of black walnut, harmonizing well with the general style 
of the house. The recess back of the pulpit is richly frescoed, as are 
also the arches in the ceiling of the roof. The organ, made by Messrs^ 
Hook, of Boston, is finished to correspond with the interior of the 
church. The case is gothic, 34 feet high and 14 feet wide; it has 32 
registers or stops, and is of supei'ior tone and capacity. The orchestra 
is dropped within a few feet of the main floor, and harmonizes in style 
Avith the i^uljiit at the opposite end. The entire floor of the church is 
richly carj^eted, and the whole interior is lighted with gas. The 
architect was Seth H. Ingalls, and the master builder was William 
Ingalls, both of New Bedford, Mass." 

William B, Spooner, Messadore T. Bennett, Josiah Glad- 
ding, Stephen T. Church, and Nathan Bardin, were the build- 
ing committee under whose supervision the edifice was erected. 
To realize the differences which less than two hundred years 
had made, the reader will do well to compare the description 
just given (it is taken from the Church Manual) with that of 
the first meeting-house, given on page 128. 

In 1846 Dr. >"^hepard was elected a corporate member of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, hi 
1853 he received from his Alma Mater the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. On the seventh day of May, 1865, being then 



X 




Rev. Thomas Shepard, D. D. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 231 

just seventy-three years of age, lie resigned the active duties 
of his pastoral office and asked that a successor might be 
appointed. The resignation was accepted, and the use of the 
parsonage during the remainder of his life was tendered to 
him. He died on the 5th of October, 1879. The following 
extract from a notice of his life (in the Providence Journal 
of Oct. 6, 1879,) in a most admirable manner describes his 
life and character, and gives voice to the sentiment with which 
all the people of Bristol regarded him : — 

'• Dr. Shepard was an eminent rei^resentative of tlie old school of New 
En<i,land divines. His personal presence was imposing, his. manners 
were difjnified and courteous; he carried, without effort and without 
affectation, both into his official and into his private relations, the gravity 
and decorum and self-respect which befitted his sacred office. During 
his long career he never failed to honor his profession, and those who 
were familiar with his life and conversation were constrained to honor it 
in him. As a preacher he was marked by solid thought and by practical 
acquaintance with religion. He always esteemed the plain enforcement 
of the great vital truths of the Gospel to be the first duty of the preacher. 
Though decided in his own theological views, he had no taste for con- 
troversy, and lived in charity with all men. The universal respect with 
which he was regarded in the community where he jjassed so many 
years, knew no limitations of .sect. A cordial lover of all good men, he 
was in turn beloved by all, and in his death many not of his own 
spiritual fold, will mourn a most valued counselor and friend. 

While always, so long as his strength lasted, devoting himself with 
untiring zeal to the duties of his profession, Dr. Shepard was much 
more than a faithful pai-ish minister. He was also a most public-spirited 
citizen, and lent his aid, without stint, to every measure that promised 
to promote the general good. For years he rendered the most valuable 
service as Chairman of the School Committee, and when the great move- 
ment was commenced, thirty years ago, for elevating the standard of 
public education in this State, it received from no one a more earnest 
and intelligent and unwearied support. Like all the older clei'gy of 
New England, a conservative both in religion and politics, he was always 
decided in his support of sound policy, and loyal in his allegiance to 
constituted authority. After he retired from all official position, his fel- 
low-citizens insisted upon regarding him as a public character, and 
whenever he appeared before them, spontaneously accorded to him the 
manifestations of respect which were due to his venerable age, his use- 
ful career, and his unblemished character. In him they lose at once 
their oldest minister and their most honored citizen." 

The Rev. Cyrus P. Osborne was ordained as pastor, Nov. 2, 
1865. Mr. Osborne was born at East Boston, Mass., and is a 



232 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

graduate of Har.vard College in the class of 1859, and of An- 
dover in the class of 1862. In 1870, a favorable opportunity 
having been presented him to visit Europe and the Holy Land, 
at his own request he was dismissed on the sixth day of June. 
During his pastorate the debt which had been weighing upon 
the church for many years was paid, and the Memorial 
Chapel* was built. The chapel was dedicated Feb. 14, 1870. 
A plain mural tablet of marble in tlie large room tells the story 
of its erection. 

THIS CHAPEL 

DEDICATED TO THE SERVICE OF GOD, THE FATHER, SON 

AND IIOIA' GHOST, 

WAS ERECTED IX 1»[», IN MEMORY OF 

WILLIAM AXD CHARLOTTE DeWOLF, 

DECEASED 1829. 

BY THEIR DAUGHTERS, CHARLOTTE DeWOLF AND 
MARIA DeWOLF ROGERS. 

" We have thought of Uifi Juving kindness 
O God in the mid4_ of tliu temple." 

The Rev. James P. Lane was the twelfth pastor of the 
church. Mr. Lane is a native of Candia, N. H., the son of 
the late Isaiah Lane, m. d. He graduated at Amherst Col- 
lege in 1857, and pursued his theological studies at Andover, 
Mass. He was pastor of tlie Congregational Church at East 
Weymouth, Mass., from 1861 to 1866. He was installed as 



* " The chapel adjoins the church edifice, with which it harmonizes in material 
and style. The walls are of rubble stone ; the door, windows and buttresses, of 
dressed granite. The side walls are thirteen feet, and the main gable thirty-four 
feet high. The ceiling is finished to the height of twenty-nine feet. A vestibule ten 
feet by eleven feet joins the chapel to the church. A north wing extends across 
the end of the vestibule and in the rear of the church, twenty-six feet by twentj^- 
two feet, two inches. A south wing projects from the opposite side, fifteen feet by 
twenty-one feet, eight inches. The main audience-room, with which the wings are 
connected by sliding doors with ground glass panels, is thirty-three feet by fifty 
feet." The ceiling is finished in a style coi-responding to that of the church. In 
the western, or front gable, is a large gothic window of stained glass ; a similar 
window of ground glass is also placed in the north gable. The other windows are 
of ground glass. By means of the sliding doors the three rooms may be thrown 
into one. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 233 

pastor of the Free Church, in Aiiclover, April 4, 1866. From 
Aiidover he removed to Bristol, assuming the charge of this 
congregation Jan. 11, 1871. In the spring of 1880, he re- 
signed his ])astorate, and since that time has been living in 
Hyde Park, JNIass. His successor has not yet been chosen. 
The present officers of the church are : William Manchester 
and Parmenas Skinner, Jr., Deacons ; Martin Bennett and 
Messadore T. Bennett, Assistants ; Martin Bennett, Treas- 
urer ; William H. Spooner, Clerk ; Chandler H. Coggeshall, 
Superintendent of the Sunday School. The members of the 
Standing Committee are the above, ex-qfficio, and John 
Adams, William H. Bell, William H. Church, Allen T. Usher, 
William Burnside, and Seth W. Thayer. 



Chapter xxx. 



DAYS OF WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 

1775-1800. 

During the first years of tlie Revolutionary War the con- 
dition of the seaport towns of Rhode Island was pitiable in 
the extreme. An English fleet was stationed at the mouth of 
Narragansett Bay ; its chief city was occupied by the troops 
of Great Britain, and marauding parties, sent out from New- 
port from time to time to secure provisions, did not hesitate 
to carry away from the houses and farms whatever suited 
the lawless fancy of the men who composed them. The 
beginning of the long struggle saw the waters of the bay 
covered with merchant ships ; upon the wharves which lined 
its shores the productions of foreign lands lay piled, and the 
streets of its larger towns were noisy with the accents of 
sailors from many a distant clime. This was the period of 
Newport's greatest prosperity.* But for the war, that fair city 
might to-day have been one of the great centres of American 
commerce. But the British fleet which anchored in its bar- 
ber in 1775 gave the death blow to its commercial supremacy. 
It manufactories were soon closed, its ships one by one fell 
into the hands of the enemy, and its patriotic population, im- 

* " Her population was over eleven thousand. She had seventeen manufactories 
of sperm oil and candles, five rope-walks, three sugar refineries, one brewery, and 
twenty-two distilleries of rum, an article which in those days was deemed essential 
to the health of the sailor and the soldier, and all hard-working men. Her foreign 
commei'ce found employment for nearly two hundred ships, her domestic trade for 
between three and four hundred coasting- craft. A regular line of packets kept 
open her communication with London for passengei'S and mails. Her society had 
never lost the intellectual impulse given it by Berkeley." — Greene's History of 
Bhode Ma nd, pane 303. 



DAYS OP WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 235 

poverislied and despairing, were forced to flee for safety to 
tlie inland towns, whicli the Englisli troops did not ventnrc to 
ai)proacli. From tlie effects of " the Britisli occupation " New- 
port never recovered. Not nntil 18-30 did it again number 
as many inhabitants as in 1775 ; its lost ships have never 
been replaced. 

With the exception of Newport, Bristol suffered more from 
the war than did any other town of Rhode Island. In some 
respects it fared even worse than tlie island capital, for the 
situation of Newport — its imi)ortance as a naval station — 
saved it from the shells and the torches which fell to the lot 
of Bristol. The share which Bristol had taken in the destruc- 
tion of the " Gaspee" had drawn toward it the hostile re- 
gard of the British navy ; the bold and fearless utterances 
of its leading citizens, and the prominent part which they 
bore in the affairs of the colony, served completely to fix its 
attention. The home of Simeon Potter and of William Brad- 
ford could not expect to be unnoticed by the enemies of Rhode 
Island. 

The people of the town seem to have anticipated the 
troubles about to come upon them. They early began to de- 
vise measures for defence. On the twenty-fifth day of April, 
1775, six days after the fight at Concord and Lexington, the 
town voted that a watch should be set, and that " all men, 
from the age of sixteen years to sixty, shall be liable to at- 
tend upon said watch." At a town-meeting held Sept. -1, 
1775, it was 

'•Voted; That fifteen small arms with bayonets be purchased for 
the use of the town, and that Mr. Benjamin Bosworth and Mr. Stephen 
Wardwell be a Committee to procure said arms, and the Town Treas- 
urer be directed and empowered to hire the sum of forty-five pounds 
lawful money for the purchasing said arms. 

"Voted; That the assessors be directed to make a rate or tax, on the 
polls and estates of this town for the above sum, that the said rate be 
made forthwith, and that the whole of said rtitebepaid in Cash. 

"Voted; That Deacon Howland and ^Ir. Benjamin Bosworth be ap- 
pointed to overhaul the cartridges that are already made, and see that 
they are good, and that they make a number more as they shall judge 
sufficient for the use of the town. 



236 ■ HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

" Voted; That the Town Council, be directed to request Colonel Potter 
to remove a number of cannon which he has lying upon his wharf, to 
some convenient place, to i^reveut their falling into the hands of our 
enemies. 

On the 7th of October came the bombardment. From that 
date nntil the close of the war, the records are full of votes 
concerning military matters. 

Dec. 12, 177.5. " Voted, that some Intrenchnients be made near the har- 
bor in this town to prevent the enemy from landing." 

William Bradford, Simeon Potter, Benjamin Bosworth,and 
Jeremy Ingraham, were appointed a committee to construct 
these defences. " The intrenchments here mentioned were 
built along the shore, extending south from the foot of State 
Street, down as far as the foot of Burton Street, near Rich- 
mond's wharf. They were composed of a wall five feet high, 
built of turf and stones, filled up on the inside with loose 
earth and small stones." * 

In 1775 " the postal system of Rhode Island was fully or- 
ganized, by the establishment of routes, officers, and rates of 
postage, and the appointment of post-riders. William God- 
dard (formerly printer of the Providence Gazette^ had com- 
pleted his plan, and laid it before Congress, but this Col- 
ony anticipated, by nearly six weeks, the action of that body 
on the subject." f Jonathan Russell was appointed Postmaster 
at Bristol. 

In 1775, as appears from the Colonial Records, the " Vi- 
per," English sloop-of-war, took the sloop " Polly," of New 
York, and put a midshipman with a prize crew on board, 
witli orders to take the vessel into Boston. Isaac Eslick, 
of Bristol, had just been captured by the enemy. He was 
placed on board the " Polly" as pilot, and freedom for himself 
and tlie repossession of a boat and some goods that had been 
taken from him was promised him, if he would pilot the sloop 
faithfully into Boston. With great address, Eslick, with two 
of the men belonging to the sloop who had been left on board, 
brought the sloop into the Seaconnet River, where she was 

* A nnals of Bristol. 

■^Arnold's Rhode Island, Vol. II., page 3.53. 



DAYS OP WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 237 

taken possession of by Gen. Eseck Hopkins. Two hnndred 
and fifty dollars were voted him by the Legislature, for his 
achievement.* 

Jan. 13, 1776, the British came up from Newport to Pru- 
dence Island, with twelve vessels and 250 men, drove off the 
hundred minute men who opposed them, burned seven houses, 
and carried away 100 sheep. On the next day reinforcements 
from Bristol and Warren, were sent to the aid of the inhabi- 
tants; a battle lasting three hours was fought, and the enemy 
were driven back to their ships with a loss of fourteen men 
killed and very many others wounded. The stock, hay, etc., 
were at once sent off from the island, the troops were ordered 
away, and the General Assembly, realizing the great dangers 
which menaced Bristol, directed one of the companies which 
had been stationed at Prudence, to proceed to its defence. An 
artillery company was shortly afterward formed in the townj^ 
of which Robert JoUs was chosen Captain and Samuel Reed, 
Lieutenant. A fort was also erected at Bristol Ferry. From 
the beginning of the war imtil several months after the battle 
of Rhode Island, Aug. 29, 1778, the people of Bristol lived in 
constant dread of attacks by British fleets. 

On the fourth day of May, 1776, two months before the 
Declaration of Independence was voted by the Continental 
Congress, the Colonial Assembly of Rhode Island formally 
renounced its allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain and 
declared itself an independent state. On the second day of 
December the darkest period in the history of the State began. 
On that day, with seven ships of the line and four frigates, 
Sir Peter Parker appeared off Block Island. That same week 
he entered the bay with seventy transports having 6,000 men 
on board, and took possession of the City of Newport. The 
English commander had recognized the fact that from Rhode 
Island harbors would come most of the privateers that were 
so dreaded by merchant ships of his country, and deter- 
mined to blockade the mouth of Narragansett Bay, and, if 
necessary, to destroy the towns that were situated upon its 

*Rhode Inland Culonial Rcconlf, Vol. VII., page 3'Jl. 



238 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

shores. At his coming, the small body of American troops 
that had been stationed upon the Island of Rhode Island 
were at once withdrawn. Part of the forces, under Colonel 
Cook, went into camp near Tiverton ; the rest, under com- 
mand of Brigadier-General West, were stationed at Bristol. 
At the next session of the Legislature the women and children 
in all the sea-board towns, and especially in Newport, Provi- 
dence, East Greenwich, and Bristol, were advised " to move 
with their furniture to the interior." In every one of these 
towns destruction seemed to await their homes. The inju- 
dicious and passionate conduct of the general in command at 
Bristol secured for the town the hearty dislike of Lord Percy, 
who had succeeded to the command of the British troops 
when General Clinton went back to England. Of this fact 
the following letter bears witness : — 

"Newpokt, April Stli, 1777. 

"Sir: I received your letter of the Otli by the flag of truce which 
brought Mrs. Paine from Bristol, and should have sent you an answer 
immediately to the same place, had not the unprovoked impertinence of 
Messrs. West and Varnum obliged me to put a stop to all flags of truce 
coming from Bristol or Tiverton. I have, therefoi-e, been under the 
necessity of sending this to Updike's. Newtown, as well as Mrs. Stacy 
and her children, and shall send the other ladies you mention in your 
letter as soon as they come to this island, for be assured. Sir, it will give 
me pleasure to oblige you personally, from whom I have always received 
that attention and civility which persons who are really gentlemen will 
ever show each other. You will please direct that the ladies be sent 
from any place except Bristol or Tiverton, for whilst Mr. West and Mr. 
Varnum remain there, I shall permit no communication with either of 
the above places. This, Sir, you must be sensible can be no inconven- 
ience to me, or the troops under my command, as we have neither rela- 
tions, friends, or acquaintances on the continent. How far it may be to- 
the inhabitants, who may perhaps wish to hear sometimes from their 
friends, 1 cannot tell ; but if it is, they must thank those whose conduct 
occasioned it. Be assured. Sir, no person wishes more than myself to 
alleviate the miseries of war as far as possible, and I am really sorry at 
being thus prevented from granting those little indulgencies which 
are generally allowable during such periods. Any request. Sir, you are 
pleased to make me, which is in my power to grant, I shall always with 

pleasure attend to, and am. Sir, 

" Your humble servant, 

" Percy. 
"William Bradford, Esq., &c., «&c.'' 



DAYS OF WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 239 

April 2, 1777, the row-galley " Washington " blew up near 
the town, killing eight men and intensifying tlie feeling of 
despair which was settling upon the people. This was the 
galley that was afterward destroyed by the same expedi- 
tion which burned the town. It Avas built in 1775. At the 
time of this accident it was manned by a crew of fifty men, 
and propelled by thirty oars. It carried for an armament one 
eighteen-pounder and some swivel-guns. It was afterward 
repaired and rigged as a schooner. 

In July, 1777, the capture of General Prescott by Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Barton, revived the drooping spirits of the town, 
but the relief was only temporary. The state of affairs at 
this time is well described in this resolution, adopted in the 
August town-meeting : — 

" Whereas it appears by the late apportionment of a tax upon the several 
towns of this State, this town is over-rated considering its jjresent cir- 
cumstances. It is now a garrisoned town, the buildings improved as 
barracks for soldiers, its fences consumed for fuel, the lands for near 
two miles laid waste, many of the buildings totally ruined and destroyed, 
the Inhabitants moved out, many of them into other Governments with 
their estates, and the exposed situation of the town to be annoyed by 
the common enemy every hour, the farms can't be improved to any 
advantage, it is therefore, voted: That a petition be preferred by the 
freemen to the General Assembly for relief in the premises." 

The 25th of May, 1778, saw most of the compact part 
of the town in flames, and on the 12th of the following- 
August came that terrible storm which for two days swept 
land and sea with a besom of destruction. Nothing could 
withstand its fury. The scanty crops that a few bolder 
spirits had ventured to })lant were entirely destroyed. The 
tents, in which the people had taken refuge after the destruc- 
tion of their houses, were torn into shreds by the mighty 
force of the tremendous wind. Men crouched for shelter l)e- 
hind stone walls, and the air was full of the missiles hurled 
by the hand of wrathful nature. A cold and drenching rain 
came down, to complete the tale of horror, and brooks that 
for ages had rippled musically between peaceful banks were 



240 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

swollen into raging torrents, that covered the fields with an 
angry flood. When the storm was over, horses and cattle 
were found dead in the fields, and beside them were found 
also many of the men who had vainly hastened to their aid. 
This storm was for years called the " French storm," to dis- 
tinguish it from the still more deadly " Hessian storm," wliicli 
came four months later.* 

In September, 1778, Lafayette took the command of the 
ports about the Island of Rhode Island. His principal 
corps was stationed at Bristol. He was intrusted with the 
care of Warren, Bristol, and the eastern shore, as he him- 
self writes to General Washfegton in a letter dated " Camp 
near Bristol, Sept. 7, 1778." Another letter is dated " Bris- 
tol, near Rhode Island." On the 24th of September he writes, 
" I have removed my station from Bristol and am in a safer 
place behind Warren." During his stay in this town, the 
Marquis lived in the house of Joseph Reynolds, upon Bristol 
Neck. Mrs. Reynolds, the great-grandmother of the present 
owner of the house, had been informed of the approach of 
her noble guest, and had made suitable preparations for his 
reception. More than an hour before the time which had 
been appointed for his coming, a young Frenchman rode up 
to the house, and dismounting, tied his horse to a tree which 
stood near it. Plainly, one of the general's attendants, 
thought Mrs. Reynolds ; and her negro servant, Cato, was at 
once sent to conduct him to the room designed for the sub- 
ordinate officers. The young man expressed a desire for 
something to eat, and he was accordingly seated at the table 
which had been prepared for his commander, though his 
hostess wondered greatly that he could not control his ap- 
petite until a more appropriate hour. The officer ate very 
heartily of the dinner that was placed before him, but sat so 

*" Another terrible stoi'm, more severe than that which had disabled the con- 
tending squadrons in Aug-ust, caused great disaster on sea and shore. The depth 
of the snow and the intensitj' of the cold was unparalleled in this vicinity. Sentinels 
were frozen at their posts, or stifled by the whirling- snow, and so many Hessians 
perished from cold and exposure on that dreadful night in Newport, that this 
gale was long known as 'the Hessian storm.' " — Arnold's Bhode Island, Vol. II., 
paijc 4;M. 



DAYS OF AVAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 



241 




The Home of Dr. J. C. Gallup. 



long at the tabic that Mrs. Reynolds was forced to address 
him, and to remind him that his general was momentarily ex- 
pected, when, to her intense amazement, the young man an- 
nounced that he was the visitor whose arrival the household 
were so eagerly awaiting. 

During the terrible cold of the winter of 1779-80 the peo- 
ple of Bristol suffered more than any other inhabitants of the 
State. All their supply of wood had been exhausted, and the 
Legislature was forced to come to the relief of the town by a 
grant of fuel from the public stores. Wood sold in most parts 
of the State for twenty dollars a cord. Provisions also failed. 
Corn sold for four silver dollars a bushel, and potatoes for two 
dollars, — unheard-of prices in those days. For six weeks the 
bay was frozen from shore to shore. Far as the eye could 
reach the ice extended out to sea. 

On the 2.5th of October, 1779, the foreign troops that for 
three years had menaced the State with destruction, sailed 

1(3 



242 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

out from the liarbor of Newport, and in 1780, the inhabitants 
who had fled from Bristol during the Britisli occupation of 
Rhode Island, began to come back. A special act of tlie Leg- 
islature was passed, restoring to them the rights of citizen- 
ship which had been forfeited by their residence abi'oad. 
French troops were stationed in the town, but the war had 
been transferred to other fields. A burial-place upon Poppa- 
squash was granted to the French, and they were quartered 
in barracks which had been erected upon the Vassal and 
Point farms. Upon these farms hospital buildings were also 
erected. Some of the barracks were afterwards moved 
across the harbor on the ice. One of them is still standing 
upon the west side of High Street, near the corner of Brad- 
ford Street. It is the gambrel-roofed house in which Mr. 
Champlin Bowen lives. 

In 1780 the committee appointed by the General Assembly 
" to take an estimate of the Polls and Ratable Property within 
the State," reported in Bristol, 171 ratable polls, sixteen 
slaves, from ten to fifty years of age, £4,111 in money and 
trading stock (an amount exceeded by but six towns), 755 
ounces of plate (only eight towns had more), 103 "horses 
from 6 mos.," 117 oxen, 535 horned cattle, 1,877 sheep and 
goats, and X65,779, as the ratable value of the town. Every 
town in the State but North Providence, Warren, and Barring- 
ton, had more ratable polls and a larger ratable value than 
Biistol ; no better evidence could be furnished of tlie terrible 
losses that the war had inflicted upon it. 

March 13, 1781, General Washington passed through Bris- 
tol on his way to Providence. When the news of his ap- 
proach was received, a company of inhabitants, mounted upon 
horseback, went down to the ferry to meet him, and to 
escort him to the village. Accompanied by his aids, he passed 
directly through the town, riding the entire length of Hope 
Street. As he passed State Street, a salute was fired in front 
of the Court House, which then stood in the middle of the 
street. " When he passed Bradford Street, the inhabitants, 
clad in their best apparel, stood upon either side of the street, 
being divided according to their sexes, and as he passed. 



DAYS OF WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 243 

showed their respect for him by strewing his path with flow- 
ers, evergreens, etc., accompanied with highest marks of 
civility. When Washington reached the Bridge he turned to 
the inhabitants, and addressed them in brief but eloquent 
manner, returning the kindness and civility which had been 
shown him." * 

In 1783 the tract of land known as the Mount Hope Farm, 
confiscated several years before, and appropriated to dis- 
charge the balance of pay due to the officers and soldiers of 
the battalions of Col. Christopher Greene and Col. Henry 
Sherburne, was sold by the State to Nathan Miller, of War- 
ren. It had been the property of Isaac Royal, a Tory, who 
had fled from the Colony at the beginning of the war : it 
comprised the land which now lies between the farms of Mr. 
Moses Wood and Bishop Howe. For many years William 
Bradford, of Bristol, had been designated by the State to col- 
lect the rent of this farm. Mr. Bradford bought it from Mr. 
Miller very shortly after the sale by the State. It had been 
sold to Mr. Miller as a farm of 385 acres and 111 rods. After 
its purchase by Mr. Bradford, it was resurveyed by Caleb 
Harris, and was found to contain but 368 acres and 40 rods. 
The purchase-money of 17 acres and 17 rods, amounting to 
.£103, 10s., was accordingly paid back to Mr. Miller from the 
state treasury. In a house which stood upon this farm, Mr. 
Bradford lived for the rest of his life. He was a man of 
great energy, rose very early, and was accustomed to take 
long walks over his extensive domains before the sun appeared. 
In 1793, when he was a member of the United States Senate, 
President Washington passed a week with him at " The 
Mount." The descendants of Governor Bradford, with par- 
donable pride, love to tell the story that has been handed 
down to them : " of how the two, clad in that beautiful, old- 



* A miaU of Bristol. "Mrs. Burt, the widow of the Kev. John Burt, after her 
husband's death maintained herself by keeping school. When Washington passed 
through town, Mrs. Burt, wishing- to inii)ress it on the minds of her scholars, 
caused them to learn the following verses, which they were required frequently 
to repeat : — 

In seventeen hundred and eighty-one, 

I saw General Washington." — Ibid. 



244 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

fashioned attire of black velvet — dressed very much alike — 
with ruffles around their wrists and at their" bosoms, and with 
powdered hair, promenaded the piazza and talked together 
hour after hour." 

Most of the " Tory Estates " were sold before the " Mount 
Farm." The Borland farm, at the Narrows, was purchased 
by Shearjashub Bourne. The estate of William Vassal, upon 
Poppasquash (now known as the Herreshoff farm), was 
bought by John Brown, of Providence, Nov. 20, 1781. For 
its 221 acres, and the buildings which stood upon it (except- 
ing the barracks), Mr. Brown paid X 3,293, 6s. 3d. Mr. 
Vassal belonged to a family very prominent in Massachusetts 
in the days before the Revolution. His principal residence was 
in Boston, and there most of his time was spent. He pos- 
sessed great wealth, and was very benevolent, dispensing 
with a free hand his gifts to the poor. But he was a member 
of the Church of England, and was loyal to the English 
Crown. Tradition has it, that at the very beginning of the 
struggle, the passions of the people of Bristol were so stirred 
up by his bold expressions of loyalty to Great Britain, and 
his denunciations of the course pursued by the colonies, that 
he was one day stoned in the streets of the town by those 
whom his bounty had often relieved. 

In 1783 Jonathan Russell was appointed Intendant of Trade 
for the Town and County of Bristol. 

In January, 1785, a census of the town was taken by the 
Rev. Henry Wight. The whole number of inhabitants was 
1,195. There were 126 dwelling-houses; 10 widowers and 
bachelors, heads of families ; 218 distinct families ; 34 wid- 
ows, heads of families, besides several young widows who 
lived with their parents ; 78 persons above 60 years of age ; 
628 children who lived with their parents; 328 children under 
10 years of age; 122 domestics, who were either hired, or 
lived in families ; 73 slaves* of both sexes; 25 free negroes, 
and other persons of color. 

* In 1784 an act providing for the gradual abolition of slavery, and forbidding 
the introduction of slaves for sale, upon any pretext whatever, had been passed by 
the General Assembly. 



DAYS OF WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 245 

" Fire Engine No. 1 " was purchased for the use of the 
town in 1784. The first " Fire Wardens" were: Benj. Bos- 
worth, Jr., John Howland, Jonathan Russell, Jeremiah In- 
graham, and Richard Smith. This engine was bought in 
Boston, and was placed in a house at the foot of Bradford 
Street. It was a hand-engine, as were two others purchased 
in the early part of the present century. They were fed by 
water brought in the leather buckets which the law" then re- 
quired every man to hang in his house. The '' Hydraulion " 
was bought in 1838 ; " Engine No. 4," in 1844. In 1800 the 
*' Hook and Ladder Company " was formed. 

Tiie last issue of paper money * by the State of Rhode 
Island was made in 1786. To enforce the circulation of a 
worthless currency, the General Assembly passed the most 
stringent laws, notwithstanding the solemn protests that were 
presented against its course. Providence, Newport, New 
Slioreham, Bristol, and Warren only, had the courage to re- 
sist the will of the exultant partisans, who were throttling the 
commerce of the State. A few months later, when the still 
m(jre odious " Test Act " was submitted for the consideration 
of the people, the citizens of Bristol again had the honor 
and the good sense to instruct its representatives to oppose 
its enactment. An enlightened public spirit, and a just 
conception of the principles which govern the development 
of trade, seem always to have characterized the acts of the 
town. (In 1786 no Thanksgiving Day was appointed by the 
authorities of Rhode Island, but Bristol observed the day set 
apart by Massachusetts.) When, in 1788, the question of 
adopting the Federal Constitution was submitted to the peo- 
ple ot the State, in Bristol and in Little Compton, only did 
the friends of the Constitution succeed in returning a majority 
in its favor. In the succeeding year, Providence, Newport, 
and Bristol each presented petitions to the Federal Congress 
representing the distressed condition of the State, and pray- 
ing that its commerce might be exempted from foreign duties 

*See Ai-nold's HMory of Rhi>dc Idnint and the HUitorical Tract already men- 
tioned, for a full history of the paper-money issues. 



246 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

in the ports of the Union. A most successful result followed 
these petitions from the three leading sea-ports ; the vessels 
of Rhode Island were, for a time, exempted from the pa3'ment 
of import duties. In 1790 Rhode Island, last of the " old 
thirteen " colonies, became a part of the American Union. 
The adoption of the Constitution was celebrated in Bristol 
on tlie tliirty-first day of May. The citizens assembled in 
front of the State House (the Assembly* met at Bristol in 
those days), and listened to speeches from the leading men 
of the place. A salute of thirteen guns was fired, and one 
gun was added in recognition of the claims of Vermont. 

June 4, 1792. A distillery for the manufacture of New 
England rum commenced operations. It belonged to Shear- 
jashub Bourne and Samuel Wardwell, and stood on the 
wharf where the Namquit Mill now stands. In it, for neai-ly 
thirty-five years, two hundred gallons of rum were made each 
day. A ready market for its product was found on the 
coast of Africa. The first distillery in the town was built at 
the beginning of the eighteenth century. It stood near the 
southwest corner of Union and Hope streets, in the triangle 
formed by Union, Hope, and Thames streets. (The southern 
end of Thames Street had not then been washed into the 
bay.) A second was built in 1751, on the west side of 
Thames Street, between State and Bradford streets. Another 
was placed on the east side of Thames Street, where Mr. 
William H. Spooner's store now stands. At one time, five 
of these establishments were in active operation. • In each of 
them, molasses was converted into rum. The last was 
closed in 1830, the business having ceased to be profitable. 
The water which they used was brought in wooden pipes 
from a spring about two miles northeast of the town. These 
old wooden pipes are still dug up, from time to time, as 
trenches are made for water and gas pipes. 

. In 1793 the spider wind-mill, which was afterward moved 
to a lot near the head of the harbor, was erected upon the 
Common by Xathaniel Smith and Shearjashub Bourne; in that 

* The Assembly met in this town for the first time in 1785. 



DAYS OF WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 247 

year, also, a bell weighing nearly seven hundred pounds, and 
a clock costing $200, were purchased by tlie town and placed 
in the steeple of the Congregational Church. The price of 
the bell was thirtj'-seven and one-half cents per pound. 

June, 1794, the charter of the Bristol Train of Artillery 
was granted. The charter members of the company were : 
Samuel Wardwell, William De Wolf, Samuel Y. Peck, and 
John Bradford. By the charter the company was made inde- 
pendent of all regiments ; when in active service it was to be 
under the command of the governor of the State only. Its 
members (which, exclusive of officers, " must not exceed 
sixty-four in number ") were exempted from bearing arms, or 
doing military duty in the militia of the State. The first elec- 
tion of officers was held April 7, 1790, when Samuel Wardwell 
was chosen Captain, with the rank in the militia of Lieutenant- 
Colonel ; William DeWolf, First Lieutenant, with rank of 
First Major ; Samuel Y. Peck, Second Lieutenant, with rank 
of Second Major ; and John Bradford, Ensign, with rank of 
Captain. Commissions corresponding to these offices were 
issued by the State. The sergeants chosen were : Jacob 
Babbitt, Ambrose Waldron, Simeon Munro, and Samuel Slo- 
cum. In 1797 two brass field-pieces (said to have been cap- 
tured from the British at the surrender of Burgoyne) were 
presented to the company by the State, '' to be fired on all 
public occasions." These pieces are still used for the pur- 
pose specified. 

The following interesting commentary is well wortli inser- 
tion. It reproduces more vividly the customs of the day, than 
would many pages of manuscript : — 

January 24th 1795 
the town Counsel Dr. 

to a Nip of Grog 0—0 — 

to a Dubel Bole of tod 0—2 — 9 

Febuary 2 

to a Dobel Bole tod 0—2 — 

to a Glas for Mr. Bos worth — U — 3 

to 2 Nips Grog 0—1—0 

to 8 Supers . . . • . 0—12 — 

to a Dobel Bole tod 0—2 — 9 



248 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 



March 2 
to a Bole of tod q j q 

to a Dobel of tod 3 

to a Dobel Bole tod 3 q 

to G men Coffee (j c, q 

April 7 to a Dubel IJole 

of Punch 0—4 — 

to 8 men Coffee y ■^o q 

to a Dubel Bole tod 8 

to a Dubel Bole tod g ^ 

to a Nip Grog _ _ 

May4'toaNip _ _ f, 

to 2 Dubel Boles Tunch _ S — 

to 8 Supers q jo 

June 1 to a Dubel 

Bole Punch q 4 q 

to a Dubel Bole Punch 0—4 — 

to 7 men Supers jq G 

July 6 to a Nip Grog — G 

to a Nip Punch ] 

to a Dubel Bole Punch 4 

to Punch 1 

to 8 men Supers 22 

Aurgust 3 to a Nip Punch _ 1 _ q 

to a Nip Grog 6 

to a Dubel Bole Punch 4 q 

to a Dubel Bole Punch 4 

to 8 men Supers 12 

Sep* 6 to a Bole Grog and a 

Bole Punch 3 

Sep*^ 8 to Brandy Slings 0—0 — 9 

to Brandy Sling — 9 

to Grog — — G 

to a Dubel Bole Punch 4 

to 7 men Dinners ^ 10 6 

to 7 men Supers — 10 a 

to a Dubel Bole Punch 4 

to a Dubel Bole Grog 2 

Sept 9 to a Bole Punch 2 

to Grog 0—1-0 

Sep*^ 12 to a Bole of tod 1 4 

October 4 to a Bole tod 1 4 

to a Dubel Bole tod 2 8 

to 7 men Supers 10 — G 

to a Pint Rum , 0— '4^0 

November 2 

to 3 Boles Grog 0^3 

to a Sling 0—2 — 



— 


1 —4 


— 


9 — 


— 


1 — 4 


— 


— 6 


— 


— 6 


— 


1 — 


— 


2 — 8 


— 


— 8 


() — 


1—4 


f) — 


2-8 


— 


2 — 8 


— 


2 — 8 


0- 


10—0 



12 — 3 — 2 



DAYS OF WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 249 

to a Bole of tod 

to 6 men Supers . . 

to a Bole of tod 

NuvembL'r 10 

to a Xip Grog 

to a Xip Grog 

to a Sling 

"to a Dubel Bole tod 

DiTciulfor 7 
to 2 Glases Brandy . . . ... 

to a Bole tod 

to a Dubel Bole tod 

to a Dubel Bole tod 

to a Dubel Bole tod 

to 8 Supers 

Dec 7"' 1705 Eec i payment ") 

in full for the within & foregoing '- 

Stephen Wakdwelt.. j 

Sept. 11, 1798, Richard Darby was released from prison 
by the Supreme Court of the State, which was then sitting 
in this town. The Darby episode was a very curious one and 
•deserves to be recoi-ded. The account which follows is taken 
from the Annals of Bristol: — 

" Mr. Darby was a native of Xew Jersey. He came to this town in 
^ay, (1798) for the purpose of teaching a school. He taught in a school 
bouse which was situated on the neck, near where Mr. Henry DeWolf * 
now lives. He commenced with only seven scholars, but such were his 
faculties for interesting and instructing youth, that he soon gathered a 
full school, numbering about forty scholars. Having been here about 
two months he declared his belief to a few individuals, that there was 
money buried somewhere in this region. He assured them that this mat- 
ter had been revealed to him, and that it was expressly for the purpose of 
obtaining this money that he had come to this town. He told them that 
in order to secure the money, the whole matter should be kept a profound 
secret, and that a company should be formed to take proper measures for 
obtaining it. About forty of the citizens of this place and Warren, 
joined with him in carrying out his purposes. Among these were some 
of the most respectable men of the community, and who sustained a 
highly religious character. He told them that if they would be sincere 
and faithful in following his directions, he would get the money. He 
■charged them to hold as their watchword in this matter, sincevily and 



Mr. Fitz Henry DeWolf now lives in his father's house. 



250 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

confidence in their leader. He met with them in the night time, and led 
them with an open Bible in his hands, in marching around in a circle * and 
performing certain magical operations. The ring around which they 
marched was about thirty feet in diameter. It was situated near where 
Mr. Ladieu now lives. When he had continued this course for several 
weeks, he attempted to bring his project for duping his followers, to a 
consummation. He accordingly told them that he had received intelli- 
gence of the sickness of his friends at home, but that he would instruct 
them how to proceed in his absence. He then produced a blank sheet of 
paper folded in the form of a letter, which he pretended to entrust to a 
person whom they appointed, (but by sleight of hand dropped a written 
one) saying that this letter must be kept with the seal unbroken for a 
certain number of days, (to allow him time to abscond,) and then must 
be opened in pi-esence of them all, and if they were to be successful, 
writing would appear on this blank sheet, which would tell them what 
to do. 

" The letter was locked up among the private papers of the person, un- 
til the time appointed; when it was opened according to order, and to 
their great satisfaction, writing appeared. The family were several 
times aroused from their slumbers bij a scratching at the desk; which they 
supposed to be some spirit, writing upon the sheet there deposited. 
They were instructed to purchase a quantity of mineral sand, of a black- 
smith in Cumberland, which would break the enchantment by which the 
money was held. A committee was therefore furnished with money, and 
sent to Cumberland to get the sand. But when they were told that it 
was to be sold at about a dollar an ounce, they were led to suspect their 
leader of some intrigue. They immediately withdrew and held a con- 
sultation among themselves, the result of which was that they should 
frighten the blacksmith, and make him tell them whether Mr. Darby 
had not been there and furnished him with the sand, and ordered him to 
sell it at this exorbitant rate. 

" The blacksmith fearing their threats of tar and feathers or a like pun- 
ishment, for being concerned in such a plot, frankly told them that their 
suspicions were not unfounded, and that Mr. Darby was then at a house 
not more than a mile distant. The committee immediately repaired to 
the house, and had Mr. Darby arrested and brought before a Court of 
Inquiry, and afterwards before the Supreme Judicial Court, by which he 
was released as above mentioned. No charge of deception could be proved 
against him, as he had never told them that tJiej/ should receive the 
money, but only 'if faithful to him /te would get the money.' Although 



* When Bristol boys and girls are learning- to skate, almost the first thing they 
attempt in the line of fancy skating is to " cut the Darby ring." Very few of them 
know why the ring is so called, and what a noted person Mr. Darby was. Mr. 
Ladieu lived in the long, one-story house, which stands on the east side of the main 
road, a little north of the present boundary line between Warren and Bristol. 
Thirty or forty years ago, the stages passed within a few feet of its front door, and 
a swamp covered the site of the present road-bed. The track of the old road may 
still very easily be traced, in the field next south of the house. 



DAYS OP WAR AND DAYS OF PEACE. 



251 




Furniture Warehouse of Mr. William H. Bell. 



he was thus cleared by law, he 
was not suffered to leave the 
town until his followers had 
resented this gross insult by 
presenting him with a thick 
coat of Tar and Feathers." 

In 1798 the first Public 
Library of the town was 
established. Subscribers 
for one hundred shares at 
five dollars a share were 
easily obtained, and a 
charter of incorporation 
was granted by the As- 
sembly at its May session. Of the five hundred dollars orig- 
inally subscribed, three hundred were given by Col. Simeon 
Potter, and one hundred and twenty-one by Capt. Charles De- 
Wolf. In grateful recognition of the liberality of the princi- 
pal donor, the association was called " The Potter Library 
Company." Its first meeting was held in the " Academy," 
Nov. 3, 1798. Nearly all of the money subscribed was at once 
invested in books, and a very excellent library was thus ob- 
tained (as a reference to its catalogue, now in the possession of 
the Librarian of the "Rogers Library" will show). Some 
rather singular rules were enforced respecting the circulation 
of the books. The time they might be held by a sul)Scribcr 
depended on their size, and when two or more persons aj)plicd 
at the same time for the same book, an auction was held, and 
the highest bidder carried it away. Yearly dues of twenty-five 
cents, to preserve and increase the library, were required from 
each member. Thomas Richmond was the first to hold tiie of- 
fice of Librarian and Treasurer; Joseph M. Blake succeeded 
him. The library was opened only on Saturday afternoons. 
The company was dissolved in 1837, and its property was di- 
vided among those who then held its shares. 

The death of George Washington caused very deep grief 
among the people of Bristol. Several times he had visited the 
town, and his commanding presence was familiar to all its- 



252 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

citizens. On the 29tli of December, 1799, a funeral discourse 
on the cliaracter of the dead President was delivered in the 
Congregational Church by the Rev. Henry Wight. January 6, 
1800, was set apart for the observance of his obsequies. On 
the morning of that day a salute was fired upon the Common, 
and the bell was tolled. At two o'clock, in the afternoon, a 
procession was formed in the following order : — 

Independent Company of Bristol Grenadiers. 

Bristol Train of Artillery, 

with their field-pieces and wagons. 

Clergymen of the Town. 

Lieutenant-Governor Bradford, 

attended by 

Judge Bourne, Major Bradford, and Colonel Wardwell. 

Judges of the County Court. 

Officers of the Town Council and Custom House. 

Officers of the Militia. 

Mr. Daniel Adams, 

with his pujiils. 

Mr. Daniel Bradford, 

with his pupils. 

Citizens and Strangers. 

On the 22d of February, 1800, in accordance with a resolu- 
tion of the Federal Congress recommending the people of 
the United States to assemble, " publicly to testify their 
grief for the death of General George Washington, by suitable 
eulog-ies, orations and discourses, or by public prayers," the 
citizens again gathered in the Congregational Meeting-House, 
and listened to an eulogy pronounced by Allen Bourne, a 
young lawyer of the town. 



Chapter xxxi. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 

" A RICH man Avith a good heart, is surely one of the great- 
est blessings which God sends on the earth." So Bishop 
Grisvvold, in a funeral discourse, briefly summed up the char- 
acteristics of the man whose name stands forth more prom- 
inently than any other in the history of Bristol. 

"William Bradford was born at Plympton, in Plymouth 
County, Mass., Nov. 4, 1729 (0. S.). His father was Lieut. 
Samuel Bradford, a descendant in the fourth generation of 
one of the company who came over in the " Mayflower," — 
William Bradford, the man who, on the death of Carver, 
was elected to succeed him as the governor of Plymouth 
Colony. In his early youth Mr. Bradford gave promise of 
the talent that was afterward to make him so conspicuous. 
The natural bias of his mind at flrst seemed to incline him to 
the practice of medicine, and the best advantages were there- 
fore afforded him to pursue the study of that science. At 
the age of twenty-two, under the tuition of Dr. Ezekiel Her- 
sey, of Hingham (Dr. Hersey was a distinguished physician 
and early benefactor of Harvard College), he had attained 
the best medical education which was possible at that time 
to those who studied medicine in this country. 

In 1751 he married Mary LeBaron, the daughter of Dr. 
Lazarus LeBaron, of Plymouth, and settled in Warren, R. I. 
" His affable and affectionate manner, united to his skill and 
success, soon gained him a liberal encouragement, which sel- 



254 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

dom falls to the lot of so young a practitioner, however mer- 
itorious. He was particularly well qualified in the art of 
surgery, was considered as the principal operative surgeon in 
the vicinity where he resided, and iu an extensive circle, per- 
forming difficult operations with great dexterity,, skill and 
judgment." * After practicing for a few years at Warren he 
removed to Bristol, where a better field for the exercise of his 
large abilities awaited him. The date of his removal is un- 
certain. His name first appears on the town records in 1758 ; 
it is probable that he had then been for some time a resident 
of Bristol. 

In 1761 Doctor Bradford was first chosen to represent the 
town in the General Assembly, of which for so many years 
he was destined to be the most conspicuous member. In 1764 
he was made the speaker of that body. It must have been 
about this time that he commenced the study of law. The 
success which attended his entrance upon the political arena 
naturally tended to concentrate his attention upon legal 
rather than medical subjects. He appears for the last time 
as " Doctor " in the records of 1767 ; from that time forward, 
until he had won the right to a much more honorable title, 
he is William Bradfoi'd, Esquire. A hundred years ago the 
success of a lawyer depended not so much upon his knowl- 
edge of law as upon his personal character. The judges 
were seldom lawyers, and a man of imposing presence and 
great personal magnetism could, even in his first case, exer- 
cise a wonderful influence over the minds of a jury. In law, as 
in medicine, accordingly, Mr. Bradford quickly rose to emi- 
nence. Says Mr. Thacher : " It may justly be said of him, 
that very few ever arrived so near to superior eminence in 
two professions which required so much attention necessary 
to a proper discharge of each." 

Mr. Bradford entered upon political life during a period 
well suited to the display of his unusual executive ability. 
The " times that tried men's souls," found him burning with 
patriotic zeal, and eager to thrust himself forward into the 

* Thacher's Medical Biography. 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 255 

forefront of the contest for independence. The story of his 
life during the days of the Revolutionary War, may be traced 
on every page of the history of the State. Wlien the strug- 
gle began he was a member of the General Assembly ; from 
1775 to 1778 he was tlie deputy-governor; in 1778, wlien the 
State released him for a time from its service, he was again 
sent to share in tlie councils for its welfare, as a representa- 
tive from Bristol ; year after year he was continued as the 
town's representative, until he was selected to represent Rhode 
Island in the Senate of the United States, 

When the Committee of Correspondence was created, in 
May, 1773, " to obtain the most early and authentic intelli- 
gence of all such acts and resolutions of the British Parlia- 
ment, and measures of the ministry, as may relate to or af- 
fect the British Colonies in America; and to maintain a cor- 
respondence and communication with the other colonies con- 
cerning these important considerations," he was chosen one 
of its members. The important part he took in the Bristol 
town-meetings when the arbitrary hand of British power was 
laid so heavily upon lielpless but defiant Boston, has already 
l)ecn mentioned. When the news of the battle of Lexington 
shattered the last hopes of the men who had until then dreamed 
of a peaceable solution of the questions at issue between the 
colonies and the mother country, Nathaniel Green and Wil- 
liam Bradford were sent by the General Assembly to Con- 
necticut, as a committee to consult with the Assemljly of that 
Colony upon measures relating to the common defence. In 
May, 1775, the Committee of Safety was appointed, whose 
duty it was " to furnish and pay the troops, and with the two 
highest military officers, to direct the movements of the army 
of observation, if required to march beyond the Colony." 
This committee was composed of two members from Provi- 
dence County, and one each from the other counties of the 
State. Mr. Bradford was the member chosen to represent 
tlie County of Bristol. 

On the seventh day of November, 1775, the General Assem- 
bly formally deposed Governor Wanton from his office, de- 



256 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

clared the office of governor vacant, and elected Nicholas 
Cooke, the deputy-governor, to fill the vacancy. To the posi- 
tion made vacant by the promotion of Governor Cooke, Wil- 
liam Bradford was chosen. Thus it happened that he was the 
last deputy-governor of the Colony of Rhode Island, and the 
first to hold the office in the independent state which suc- 
ceeded it: for, Avhen the Assembly again met, May 4, 1776, 
the act abjuring allegiance to the British Crown, was passed. 

In October, 1776, Mr. Bradford was appointed a delegate to 
the Continental Congress, but from the record of the pro- 
ceedings of Congress it appears that he never took his seat 
in that body. The fleet of the enemy was then lying at the 
mouth of Xarragansett Bay, and his presence in Bristol Avas 
probably more necessary at that critical time than his attend- 
ance at the sessions of Congress. The company cf militia 
ordered to the defence of Bristol in January, 1776, had been 
placed under his orders, and for some time the defences of the 
town were his special charge. His appointment in that year 
as chairman of the Committee to examine Surgeons and Sur- 
geons' Mates for the army and navy, sliows that he must still 
have retained his interest in the healing art ; the fact that 
he assisted in dressing the wound of Colonel Barton (which 
the latter had received when he hastened to the relief of burn- 
ing Bristol in 1778), also testifies to his interest in his old 
profession. 

The coming of the fleet of Sir Peter Parker, in December, 
1776, and the occupation of Newport by the 6,000 men that 
came with him, has already been mentioned. It was reported, 
soon after their arrival, that the enemy intended to march upon 
Boston, by way of Providence. A convention was thereupon 
held to devise some means for raising an army to oppose their 
progress. It met at Providence, Dec. 25, 1776, and was made 
up of three delegates from each of the New England States. 
Stephen Hopkins, William Bradford, and Henry Ward, were 
the Rhode Island members. July 7, 1777, the Assembly ap- 
pointed three delegates to attend a convention at Springfield, 
" to consider the subject of the currency, and the defence of 



WILLIAM BRADFORD. 257 

Rhode Island ; " they were .Stephen Hopkins, William Brad- 
ford, and Panl Muniford. 

In 1777 Mr. Bradford was appointed to lease the estates of 
the Tories that had been confiscated by the State. October, 
1779, he Avas one of the Council of War. July, 1780, he was 
chosen to attend a convention of the New England States, 
held in the city of Boston. The convention was called that 
some method might be devised by which the Americans could 
furnish supplies to their French allies. Four months later a 
convention, called for a similar purpose, met at Hartford. It 
sat for two weeks, and the result of its deliberations was 
most important. It advised that recruits should be enlisted 
for t/ie ivar, instead of for a limited time, and embodied its 
views on the general condition of the country in a series of 
resolutions, ten in number, which were sent to the several 
States. Of this convention Mr. Bradford was Pj-esident. 

So, through the whole of the long struggle we see his name 
appearing. For more than twenty years in succession, either as 
deputy-governor or one of the representatives from Bristol, he 
was a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly. In Octo- 
ber, 1792, he was chosen a member of the United States Sen- 
ate, and so for a time the town was forced to relinquish her 
claim upon him; but in 1797, having resigned his senatorial 
office, he again appeared as its representative, and was regu- 
larly returned as such until 1 804. For eighteen years — longer 
than any other ever held the office — he was the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives of the Colony and State of Rhode 
Island. Thirty-five years he represented the town of Bristol 
in that body. He entered the Colonial Assembly when liis 
frame was young and strong, and his pulses were leaping with 
the superabundant vigor of early manhood. Not until his 
eye had grown dim, until his hair was silvered with the frosts 
of age and his shoulders were bent with the Avcightof almost 
fourscore years, did he withdraw from the ])ublic service. He 
died at Bristol on the sixth day of July, 1808. 



Chapter xxxii. 



BENJAMIN BOURNE. 



The following sketch of the life and character of a mau 
who was one of the most prominent lawyers of Rhode Island 
at the beginning of the present century, was prepared many 
years ago for a book that was never published, — the second 
vohime of Wilkins Updike's Memoirs of the Rhode Island Bar. 
Its author settled in Bristol shortly after Judge Bourne's 
death, succeeded to a large share of his practice, and was re- 
peatedly elected to offices of honor and responsibility by the 
people of the town and State. It is here inserted in full, not 
only because it was written by one who had been a student in 
the office of Judge Bourne, and had therefore enjoyed excep- 
tional facilities for forming a just estimate of his powers, 
but also because it seems eminently fitting to preserve in 
more enduring form, for the benefit of posterity, an article 
from the facile pen of Nathaniel Bullock : — 

" The late Judge Bourne was the son of Sliearjashub Bourne, who came 
from Sandwich, Massachusetts, about the middle of the last century, 
and married and settled in Bristol. He had received a liberal education 
at Cambridge, and his first employment here was that of a school-mas- 
ter. He was, however, probably at the same time engaged during his- 
leisure hours in reading law, for he soon commenced the practice, became 
respectable in the profession, and presided several years as Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court, and, it is thought, held the office at his death, in 
1781. 

"Benjamin Bourne, the subject of this sketch, was born in Bristol, 
September 9th, 175.5, was placed early under the instruction of Rev. S- 
Townsend, the then Congregational minister of Barrington, by whom 
he was prepared for Cambridge University, at which he graduated with 
distinguished honors, in a class many of which became eminent in their 
day, in the pulpit, or at the forum, and in our national or State councils. 
After a short interval at school keeping, in which it is understood that 



BENJAMIN BOURNE. 259 

lie did not succeed to his mind, lie resorted to the study of the law in the 
office of General Varnuni, the most able advocate of his time. But the 
Revolution havinj;' already come on, diverted him from his studies. He 
thought with the Roman orator, 'silent enim hyes inter arma.' In 
August, 177G, just after the disastrous battle on Long Island, the dark- 
est period of the war, he was appointed ensign of a company in the 
Rhode Island brigade of continental troops, and immediately entered on 
the stii'ring and to him untried scenes of the cami). He was, however, 
soon transferred to the quartermaster's department, and discharged the 
duties of an assistant, with the utmost diligence and fidelity; till the 
Northern army was disbanded. On leaving the army he resumed his 
studies, and soon commenced his professional career at Providence, 
where he rapidly established an enviable reputation for probity and 
talents. He was not only patronized as a faithful, sound lawyer, but 
became popular as a man and as a sagacious statesman, at a time, too, 
when popularity was no deceptive indication of merit. 

" At the age of thirty-four Judge Bourne was elected a member of Con- 
gress by an overwhelming majority, in opposition to the whole force of 
a party that had recently controlled the tState,. and continued to be re- 
turned a member of that body till he received the appointment of Dis- 
trict Judge, on the death of Judge Marchant, in 179G. While serving in 
Congress he displayed the rare combination of talents for business and 
talents for debate. He spoke but seldom, and never without marked 
effect. On the new organization of the United States Courts, just before 
the close of the elder Adams' administration, he was appointed one of 
the Judges of the Eastern circuit, composed of Massachusetts, Maine, 
New Hampshire and Rhode Island ; but on the repeal of the act creating 
this intermediate court, he, with his associates, was ousted from the 
bench, and compelled to assume his profession for the support of his 
family. 

"In his politics Judge Bourne was a decided Federalist, stood high 
among the illustrious men of that party, and maintained an intimate 
correspondence with Hamilton, Pickering, Sedgwick, Ames and others. 
Some of the remains of this correspondence are still preserved in the 
family archives, and, though mutilated for the sake of autographs, show 
a familiar interchange of sentiment on the policy and movements of the 
functionaries of the General Governments, and the cordial feelings of 
personal confidence and fi-iendshii) mutually cherished. 

" On taking his seat upon the Bench Judge Bourne removed to Bristol, 
and fixed himself and family upon his patrimonial estate, a small but 
beautiful farm at the northern entrance of the village, now belonging to 
Mrs. James D. W. Perry, his only grandchild. Here he took up his abode 
for the residue of his days, devoting his leisure to the improvement of his 
lands, in the enjoyment of a free social intercourse with his many friends, 
and in the exercise of a generous but unostentatious hospitality. On 
his return to the bar business followed him here, so that he immediately 
found himself in full practice. His former clients, who were among 
the principal merchants and business men of the State, had not forgot- 
ten his talents or fidelity. He went the circuit of the courts, and was 



260 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

engaged in all the most important trials. He had a mind naturally strong, 
and so disciplined by education and habit, that its powers were ever at 
his command. His conceptions were remarkably quick, clear and com- 
prehensive, his language at the bar chaste and appropriate, his utterance 
full and rapid, and yet perfectly distinct. In common conversation, as 
well as in argument, when there was nothing unusual to excite, words 
flowed from his lips without the least apparent effort. He was, never- 
theless, far from phlegmatic in his temperament. There was quite,enough 
of excitability to be aroused on proper occasions. A severe conflict on 
an important question would never fail to kindle up his mind with burn- 
ing ardour, flash across his animated countenance, making every feature 
eloquent. It was an occasion of this sort upon which he made his last 
display in Court. He appeared there as the advocate of an only brother 
whose maritime disasters had reduced him from wealth to insolvency, 
in a cause deeply implicating the integrity and character of that brother. 
It was a cause of the first importance, involving points of law which had 
never before been mooted m the IState. The result depended on the 
construction of a statute which had never before elicited discussion. 
The contest was waged, too, against opposing counsel of no ordinary 
forensic powers, one whose brilliant mind shed lustre on the bar, and 
whose displays of eloquence in our national Legislature have been sel- 
dom if ever sur^jassed. Both parties were men of high standing and of 
great influence. The trial occupied several days and was attended with 
no little excitement. The utmost eft'orts of the advocates were put in 
requisition on both sides, and exerted with a zeal rarely witnessed. The 
case finally resulted in the triumph of Mr. Bourne ; but it was a dear 
bought victory to his advocate, who retired from the cause physically 
exhausted by the conflict. The exertion fixed a wasting disease upon his 
lungs, under which he lingered a few short months and expired Septem- 
ber 17, 1808. 

" In his person he was rather above the common height, well proi:)or- 
tioned, athletic and corpulent. The whole contour and outline of his 
noble visage gave assurance of no ordinary man. In his high forehead, 
broad Ciceronian face and dark bushy brow, shading an eye vivid with 
exjiression, phrenologists would have discovered strong moral and intel- 
lectual capacities. Thei'e was a certain dignity in his countenance 
which at first glance gave it a cast of sternness, but the repulsive aspect 
vanished the moment he sjioke. Of dress he was negligent almost to a 
fault, yet his manners were always such as bespoke the gentleman. 
His conversational tact, facetiousnoss and other companionable qualities 
made him the favorite guest wherever he went, the nucleus, delight and 
life of every social circle. Though at the head of the Bar while in prac- 
tice, he was remarkable for his courteous deportment towards the Court 
and his professional brethren, and often fostered the younger members 
with his aid and encouragement. To his pupils he was familiar and 
communicative, and few ever had such ready facilities for imparting in- 
struction. He finished his course before age had made much inroad 
upon his constitution or at all impaired his mental faculties, and left the 
world, as is believed, without a personal enemy." 



Chapter xxxiii. 



THE METHODIST CHURCH. 



1T9C-1880. 



" Ix the center of Boston Common still stands a gigantic elm — the 
crowning ornament of its beautiful scenery. On a fine summer after- 
noon in July, 1790, a man of middle age, of a serene but shrewd coun- 
tenance, and dressed in a style of simplicity which miglit have been 
taken for the guise of a Quaker, took his stand upon a table beneath the 
brandies of that venerable tree. Four persons approached and gazed 
upon him with surprise, while he sang a hymn. It was sung by his soli- 
tary voice; at its conclusion he knelt down upon the table, and, stretch- 
ing forth his hands, prayed with a fervor and unction so unwonted in 
the cool and minute petitions of the Puritan pulpits, that it attracted 
the groups of promenaders who had come to spend an evening hour in 
the sliady walks, and by the time he rose from his knees, they were 
streaming in processions from the different points of the Common, 
towards him. While he opened his small Bible and preached to them 
without notes, but with the 'demonstration of the Spirit and of i)0wer.' 
the multitude grew into a dense mass, three thousand strong, eagerly 
catching every utterance of the singular stranger. One who heard him 
at this time says: 'He presented iis with such a variety of beautiful 
images, that I thought he must have been at infinite pains to crowd so 
many beautiful things into his memory. But when he entered upon 
the subject matter of liis text, it was with such an easy, natural flow 
of expression, and in such a tone of voice, that I could not refrain from 
weeping; and many others were affected in the same way. When he 
was done, and we had an opportunity of expressing our views to each 
other, it was agreed that such a man had not visited Xew England since 
the days of Whitefield. I heard him again, and thought I could follow 
him to the ends of the earth.' " 

Such is the account the ^[ethodist historian, Stevens, gives 
of tlie first appearance in Boston, of Jesse Lee ; the man to 
whose self-denying zeal the Methodist Church in Bristol owes 



262 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

its existence. It is a most admirable description, not only 
of the way in Avliich Lee raised himself to prominence and 
influence in Xew England, but also of the course tlie Metho- 
dist preachers of the last century everywhere adopted. 

To the remotest parts of the country, these bold itinerants 
penetrated ; shrinking from no hardships, enduring, oftentimes 
indeed appearing to court persecutions from the rude and ig- 
norant pioneers to whom especially their efforts were directed. 
Everywhere upon the frontiers crowds flocked to hear them, 
and everywhere the most extraordinary scenes attended their 
preaching. In the cities and the older towns of the east, 
their success, though great, was not so marked, but among the 
mountains of the south and the dense forests of the north and 
west, the spirits of the adventurous settlers were mightily in- 
flamed by their impassioned harangues, and the multitudes 
which formed their audiences were swayed by their burning- 
words, as grain-fields are moved by the breath of tlie onrush- 
ing winds. The wonderful growth of tlie Methodist Church in 
America is one of the most remarkable things in the history 
of this country, and well merits the attention so many writers 
have devoted to it. 

The story of the founding of the church in Bristol presents 
features similar to those which can be observed in tracing the 
liistory of the denomination in the other important towns of 
New England. According to Mr. Stevens, Jesse Lee was the 
first Methodist preacher to address an audience in this place. 
In this point the historian is mistaken ; to a much more dis- 
tinguished man belongs this honor. Wednesday, Sept. 17, 
1740, fifty 3' ears before the coming of Lee, George Wkitefield 
preached at Bristol. In a letter dated Boston, Sept. 26,1740, 
he mentions the fact.* He had landed at Newport a few days 
before, and was on his way to Boston. There, not long after, 
an audience of twenty thousand people gathered beneath the 
trees of the Common, to listen to his soul-stirring words. On 
his arrival in Bristol, Mr. Whitefield was refused permission 
topreacli in the meeting-house or the church, butthrougli the 

* WIMcfieM's Worki (Landon, 1T72), Vol. I., page 213. 



THE METHODIST CHURCH. 263 

exertions of Lydia, the wife of Hopestill Potter, the use of 
the Court House was allowed him.* 

The Rev. Jesse Lee delivered his first sermon at Bristol. 
July 2, 1790. On the oOtli of June he had preached at New- 
port. Capt. Daniel Gladding (the grandfather of Peter Glad- 
ding, the present town clerk), learned this fact, and also 
ascertained that on the next day Mr. Lee was to pass through 
the town. 

" Havino- a curiosity to know what kind of people the ^[ethodists were, 
iie resolved to stop the preacher, and induce him, if possible, to address 
the ^ood people of Bristol. On July 1, he looked out sharply to hail the 
stranger as he passed. At last he saw two men leisurely trotting their 
liorses through the village. Being at a distance from them, he dropped 
his work, and set off upon a run to overtake them. He reached them 
upon the bridge, after they had passed the village. Inquiring, quite out 
of breath, if they were Methodist preachers, he ascertained that one of 
them was Lee himself. They were induced by his entreaties to return, 
and were entertained at his house. The next day, their curious host 
spread far and wide a notice of their arrival, and of Lee's intention to 
address them. He preached to them accordingly, and passed on to War- 
ren.'" — Lcller of Rev. Asa Kent. 

Two years after, in May, 1792,f the first class was formed 
at the house of Captain Gladding. For its formation the 
labors, in the preceding year, of the Rev. Lemuel Smith 
and the Rev. Menzies Rainor, had prepared the way. It 
numbered about sixteen persons, Daniel Gladding, AVilliam 
Pearse, Allen Wardwell, Jonathan Peck, Nathaniel Munro, 
George Sandford, John Gladding, Sylvester Munro, William 
Throope Waldron, and Benjamin Doty, being among its 
members. The first quarterly meeting of the society was 
held in the fall of 1792, and the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper was the 
first presiding elder to visit the church after its formation. 
Services were at first held in the Court House ; " not," says 

•From A desceiulaiit of Mrs. Pottor, the author gained this information, and also 
first learned that Mr. Whitelield had preached in Bristol. It would seem that the 
great preacher was detained by the rain, and that on this account he desired the 
.-ihelter of a roof. It is said that he possessed a voice of such wondrous power, that 
when he was i)reaching- in Market Street, Philadelphia, its tones could be heard on 
the o|)posite shoi-e of New Jerse.v, and that tlic crews of the vessels upon the Dele- 
ware Kiver eoiild disting'uisli his words. 

+ This dale is tal^en from the Ati)iiil.-i i>f Biistnl. Captain Gladdin^'s house is still 
standintr on Thames Street, ne.\t south of the Sugrar Keflnery. 



2G4 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Mr. Stevens, " without much annoyance from the rabble, wlio 
concerted nnmerons plans to disturb and break up their 
meetings." 

Not very promising appeared the prospects of the society 
in those early days, and the story of the persecutions showered 
upon its members seems now almost incredible. " In tlie 
spring of 1795, three of the most important families of llie 
church left the town, and the society became so discouraged 
and reduced, both in numbers and resources, that a house 
could not be found to accommodate the preacher at his peri- 
odical visits." * Thomas Coope was thon upon the circuit. 
He announced, one day, that he could visit the town no more, 
unless a lodging was provided for him. " About this time, 
two young ladies joined tlie dwindling church, and entered with 
the warmest sympathy into all its necessities and trials. They 
immediately exerted themselves to procure a ' prophet's 
chamber,' and the funds necessary to continue Methodist 
preaching in the town. Their pious diligence was successful. 
Means were provided, the lodging procured, and made all 
right just before what would otherwise have been their last 
meeting. Thus was the germ of ]\Iethodism in Bristol saved 
from utter decay." f 

In 1803 the first decided action was taken respecting tlie 
erection of a house of worship. In that year permission was 
granted by the town to "William Lindsay and others to place 
a church building on the southwest corner of the Common, 
(The only public building standing upon the front of the 
Common at that time was the Academy. This had been 
erected in 1791 ; it stood where the Court House now stands.) 
The funds for its erection were procured by subscription in 
the succeeding year, the year of Bishop Coke's | visit to the 

* Memorials of Methodism, page 26-t. I- Ibid. 

.j: Thomas Coke was an Englishman, a graduate of Oxford, and a cui-ateinthe 
Established Church. Having joined the Methodists, he became an assistant of 
Wesley, and in 1784 was ordained by him as Superintendent (not as Bishop,— Wesley 
rejected that title,) of the Methodist Church in America. At Baltimore, Dec. 25» 
1784, the church was organized under his direction. In this town he preached both 
in the Court House and in St. Michael's Church, his ordination in the Church of 
England securing him the use of the latter. During his visit in Bristol he stayed 
at the house of the late William Pearse, on Hope Street. 



THE METHODIST CHURCH, 265 

town. In 1805 the outside of a plain, wooden building, two 
stories high, forty feet wide, and fifty feet long, was com- 
pleted ; rough benches for a time served for seats ; a year 
afterward the inside was finished.* Galleries were built on 
three sides — north, south, and west — and in the west gal- 
lery the singers were placed. In this building services were 
held until the present church was completed. It is now 
standing upon Wood Street, and is used as an armory by 
the Light Infantry Company. 

The revivals of 1812 and 1820 seemed to assure for the 
church a career of continued prosperity ; the first brought it 
about a huridred members. More than twice that number 
sought its communion as a result of the second. But dark 
days were coming. In the year 1832 the trial of Ephraim K. 
Avery, for a crime very similar in its nature to that for which 
the Rev. Mr. Hayden was lately arraigned in Connecticut, 
threw the community into a state of intense excitement. 
Xor was the excitement confined to Bristol ; it passed beyond 
the boundaries of Rhode Island. Very quickly the eyes of 
Xew England, and indeed of the whole country, were turned 
upon this town, Avith an interest far exceeding that mani- 
fested in the late Hayden trial. Mr. Avery was acquitted by 
the judges before whom his case was brought, but under 
such circumstances that the verdict was hardly more favor- 
able tlian a conviction would have Ijcen. The question of 
his innocence was by no means decided, and for months the 
actioji of the court was the subject of the most bitter discus- 
sion throughout the country. Naturally, though of course 
unjustly, the Methodist Church suffered from the ol)loquy 
its minister had incurred. All through the land it reeled 
under the stunning effects of the l)low. To the society in 
this place the wound was almost mortal. One of the ablest 
ministers of the denomination, Charles K. True, a man who 
afterwards earned for himself a highly honorable name, was 

* The pews were made in the plainest style possible, yet Bishop Asbury, when 
he visited the town in ISOit. protested earnestly against their use. They appeared 
to him to savor rather of Presbyterianism than of Methodism. 



266 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

sent to succeed Mr. Averj, ])iit his untiring efforts seemed to 
liave almost no reviving effect ; not for many years was the 
lost vigor regained. 

Sept. 17, 1856, the present cliurch was dedicated, the Rev. 
Dr. Shepard, of the Congregational Church, and the Rev. Jo- 
seph Trapnell, of St. Michaers Churcli, taking part in the 
services. From the Phenix, of Sept. 27, the following ac- 
count is taken : — 

" The house is located on the north side of State Street, between Hope 
and High streets, and is built of wood. It was designed by Perez Ma- 
son, Esq., of Providence, and built under the superintendence of Mr. 
Philii) B. Bourne, of this town. Its dimensions are d2 x SO feet, with a 
beautifully proportioned spire, 1G2 feet in height. On the first floor is a 
large and airy vestry, a large room designed for the ladies' sewing-circle, 
and another room for committees, etc. The upper part of the house 
contains 120 pews, and side galleries with twelve pews in each. The pul- 
pit is situated in a recess at the north end of the house. The orchestra 
is at the south end, containing a fine-toned organ, manufactured by Sim- 
mons & Co., of Boston, at an expense of $1,500. The pews, galleries, 
and orchestra, are grained a rich oak color — the work was executed by 
James Dawson, of New York. The pulpit is of iDolished black walnut, 
designed and executed by Mr. J. S. Weeden, of this town, and is an ele- 
gant specimen of workmanship. In the rear of the pulpit is a splendid 
sofa, also manufactured by Mr. Weeden. The walls are richly orna- 
mented with waterproof fresco; the ceiling and jjerspective are perfectly 
beautiful. The design and execution was by .J. Stanley D'Orsay, artist, 
of New York. The house is lighted with gas, which emits its bright 
flame from five neat chandeliers, and gives a most pleasing effect to the 
beauty of the house. In its appearance, the entire house is chaste and 
beautiful. . . . An elegant communion service was presented to the 
church by a highly respected member of the Episcopal Church.* The 
whole cost of the structure, including the organ, the furrishing, the lot 
of land on which it stands, and a neat iron fence which encloses the 
premises, is $23,000. Up to the present writing, pews have been sold to 
the amount of $15,000. Some fifty pews remain unsold, but will undoubt- 
edly be disposed of in a few weeks." 

To give even a slight account of the lives of the ministers 
who have been placed in cliarge of the church, is of course 
impossible. Such an account would be virtually a history of 
the Methodist Church in New England, from its foundation 
until the present time. Nearly all the men famous in the 

*Mr. Lemuel C. Richmond. 



THE METHODIST CHURCH. 



267 




early days of Method- 
ism served for a while 
ill this town ; and the 
importance of the sta- 
tion has secured for it 
tlie ministrations of 
some of tlie al)lcstmen 
of the denomination in 
these later years. 

Of the earlier preach- 
ers, Joseph Snelling 
was more prominently 
connected wuth this 
town than any other. 
No man, indeed, ever 
served this church lon- 
ger than he. In 1796 
he was first placed 
upon the circuit ; in 
1800 the cliurcli was 

again assigned him, and in 1805 he was working here for the 
third time. To this post he was again sent for the succeeding 
vear. In that year a great revival attended his labors.* 
When the Conference again met, in 1806, the church in 
Bristol deemed his presence so necessary, that it sent an 
agent to request his reappointment. Says Mr. Snelling, in 
his Life : " As I had already been there two years in succes- 
sion, i told our friends I had no idea their request Avould be 
granted, as it was contrary to tlie rules of our discipline. When 
the question was brought forward P>ishop Asbnry at first said 
it could not be, and gave a peremptory refusal ; but having 
considered the matter, and by the earnest solicitation of our 
friends, he at last consented for me to go. My station was 
now Warren and JJristol ; it before was called Bristol and 
Somerset. I preached very little in Warren, as there was a 
local preacher living there, but si)Ciit my time chiefly at Bris- 



The Methodist Episcopal Church. 



* This revival does not appear to have extended beyond the Methodist Church. 



268 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

tol." This was one of the earliest instances in which the 
spirit of the rule of itinerancy was broken ; its letter was 
observed by clianging the designation of the station. Of Mr. 
Snelling, Stevens says: "He has been characterized by mod- 
erate, but good talents, hearty and successful zeal, a temper 
full of sweetness, and manners of an endearing amiabilitv\ 
All who have known him have loved liim." 

The great revival of 1812-13, during which " more than 
four hundred converts joined the Methodist Church in this 
State," permanently connects the name of Asa Kent witli this 
town. Mr. Kent was born in West Brookfield, Mass., May 9, 
1780. He began preaching in 1802, and in 1812 was sta- 
tioned in this town. His earnest and effective service in tliose 
wonderful days made his reappointment a matter of course 
in the succeeding year. From 1814 to 1817, he continued to 
direct the affairs of this church, as the presiding elder of the 
district. (The district then embraced Rhode Island and a 
part of Massachusetts.) In 1822-23 he was " superannuated," 
but for many years continued to preach. His last appoint- 
ment was Edgartown, Mass. He was a delegate from New 
England to the General Conference at New York, 1812, and 
to the Conference at Baltimore in 1816. He died on the 1st 
of September, 1860. For almost sixty years his name had 
been called at the commencement of each annual conference. 
Of him. Bishop Haven says : " He attracted audiences by his 
quaintness ; lie edified them by his soundness of doctrine and 
simplicity of faith." In the '• minute" of his death, entered 
upon the records of the conference, he is described as a 
" good preacher, rich in Christian experience and original 
thought; a g-ood man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." 

The Rev. Thomas W. Tucker was the pastor in the still 
more wonderful revival of 1820. The story of his life was 
told by his wife in a book published eight years ago {Itiner- 
ant Preaching^. His experiences were the experiences of 
all who took the " traveling connection " in that day ; for the 
Methodist rule of itinerancy assigns the same fortunes to its 
preachers, and for the most part crushes out individualism. 
Mr. Tucker found the church weak and languishing, — almost 



THE METHODIST CHURCH. 269 

entirely destitute of S))iritual vigor. He left it strojig and 
triumpliant, — a power in the coniuuinity and the State. Before 
he left Bristol, in the summer of 1820, he received 220 into 
the society, and twenty more joined it after he left the town.* 
]^ut the health of the preacher suffered from the excessive 
labor which the revival imposed upon him. Five years later, 
liaving been forced for a time to relinquish his work, he 
found among the people whose spiritual zeal he had done so 
much to awaken, the rest that had become an imperative 
necessity. Mr. Tucker possessed a very sweet and melodious 
voice, one of the most necessary endowments in a success- 
ful Methodist minister ; it was equally effective in prayer- 
meetings and in sick-rooms, and aided greatly " his beautiful 
gift in prayer." He died Aug. 0,1871, in the eighty-first 
year of his age. While Mr. Tucker was laboring as an ex- 
horter in the city of Boston, he was instrumental in securing 
to the service of the church, the unique talents of a rough 
young sailor, who afterwards acquired a world-wide celebrity. 

'* The yeai' was 1810, and the occasion an awakening-meeting iti the 
vestry of the Biomfield Street Church. A powerful discourse had been 
preached by that gifted and stirring preacher, Elijah Hedding, and sev- 
eral awakened individuals had, in response to the general invitation, 
come forward to the altar, when Mr. Tucker, who was an active, zeal- 
ous j'oung member, noticed a roughly clad, and rough appearing indi- 
vidual, apparently a sailor, who seemed much distressed in mind. 
Approaching him, Mr. Tucker kindly urged him to go forward with the 
other in(iuirers and kneel at the altar. Though reluctant at first, he 
finally yielded, and, in the course of the evening, he came out of his trial 
triumphantl3\ He never forgot the agency of Mr. Tucker in his conver- 
sion, and always, after embracing and kissing him in his impulsive man- 
ner, would address him as 'My dear Father,' 'My earthly Savior.' 
Mr. Tucker lias often said that Edward T. Taylor, at the time of his con- 
veision, was, to all appearances, one of the roughest and most un- 
promising specimens of a sailor that he had ever seen, and gave but faint 
promise of a brilliant career. The rough diamond was then uncut." 

Father Taylor himself used to say, in describing the events 
of that night : " I was dragged through the lul)ber-hole (he 
had climbed through the window of the chapel instead of 

*In the succeeding- year (1S21) the church building was enlarged to accomnio- 
diite its increased cougregatiou. It was sawed in two, and lengthened by the 
addition of several feet. 



270 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

entering by the door), brought down by a broadside from the 
seventy-four (Mr. Hedding), and fell into the arms of Thomas 
W. Tucker." ^ 

The famous " Sailor Preacher " was stationed at Bristol in 
1826, two years before lie entered upon that wonderful career 
in Boston. Many books might be written concerning him. 
In some respects he was one of the most remarkable men 
that ever lived. Says Dr. Bartol : "No American citizen — 
Webster, Clay, Everett, Lincoln, Choate — has a reputation 
more impressive. In the hall of memory his spiritual statue 
will forever .have its own niche. What is his peculiar place ? 
He belonged to no class. In any dogma he was neither 
leader nor led. He is the sailor's representative. Those 
were landsmen. He stands for the sea, the greatest delegate 
the ocean has sent upon the stage of any purely intellectual 
calling, at least in this part of the world ; and his fame has 
been borne into thousands of ships, by almost millions of 
mariners, who have christened him Father, into every port 
and commercial city of the globe. The sailor says he has 
been in places where the United States had not been heard 
of, but not where Father Taylor had not ; while the universal 
eagerness of all other classes to hear him has been scarce 
less than of the navigators, who make so great a division of 
our fellow-men." 

The name of Isaac Bonney is still well remembered by the 
Methodist Church in Bristol. Mr. Bonney was born at Hard- 
wick, Mass., Sept. 26, 1782. He became a member of the New 
England Conference in 1808, and was five times stationed 
in this town. His biographer says : " So generally accept- 
able was Father Bonney that he was frequently returned 
to the same appointment, at the earnest desire of the people. 
. . . As a man he was of noble bearing, of strong and 
vigorous constitution. ... As a pastor, he was faith- 
ful, especially in his attention to the sick. . . . His 
influence in the Conference was great. . . . He took an 
active part in the reforms of the day; temperance, education, 
and anti-slavery received his cordial support, and he was truly 
a good minister of Jesus Christ." In 1850 Mr. Bonney came 



THE METHODIST CHURCH. 271 

to Bristol to spend the remainder of his days, ^[any arc the 
recollections that liavc been called np whenever his name lias 
been mentioned in preparing this sketch of the chnrch. His 
mind was always bright and active, and he was oftentimes 
exceedingly happy in the nse of language, and in repartee/- 
" Father Bonncy " was very much interested in the erection 
of the new church. He lived to see its corner-stone laid, but 
not to witness its completion. While on a visit to. some 
friends in Marlboro', Mass., he died on the 16th of Septem- 
ber, 1855. 

The present pastor, William Veach Morrison, d. d., was 
born in West Middlesex, Penn., Jan. 23, 1830. He gradu- 
ated at Alleghany College, Meadville, Penn., in 1854, and af- 
terwards spent three years at Concord, N. H.,in the theolog- 
ical school that has since been merged in the Boston Univer- 
sity. From this school he graduated in 1857, and in the same 
year joined the Providence Conference at its session in tliis 
town. His first charge was at Millville, Mass. In 1874 he 
was made presiding elder of tlie Fall River District, retaining 
the post for four years. But for a rule of tlie episcopacy 
forbidding the appointment of a presiding elder for a second 
consecutive term, this office would have been assigned to him 
a second time, in accordance with a request of the churches 
lie had served. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity 
from his Alma Mate?' in 1877. 

The following list of the ministers who have been assigned 
to duty in this town, is the only complete one yet made. It 
is believed to be correct, having been verified, as far as possi- 
ble, by reference to the "Minutes" of the annual confer- 
ences, and to the biographical slcetches of the old preachers, 
that have been published from time to time. It is possible 
that other names should be added in the earlier years. The 
fact that assignments were at one time made for a shorter 
period than one year, that they were made to the circuit and 

* To a member of the congreg-ation, who hsul asked him one day if he had a good 
garden, he replied : " No, sir, I have not a good garden, but I have a very good 
banket." Many sueh apt speeches might be recorded; this suffices to show liis 
character. 



272 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 



not to tlie town, and that the year for which the assignments 
are still made is not the calendar year, makes the task of 
tracing the appointments a difficult one. The town was for 
the first time recognized as a separate station in 1804, but 
several times after that date its minister was required to 
include Warren, Somerset, and sometimes Rhode Island, in 
his field of labor. 



1790. 


Jesse Lee. 


1816. John Lindsey. 


1791. 


Lemuel Smith. 


1817. Benjamin Sabin. 




Menzies Eainor. 


1818-19. Thomas W. Tucker. 


1792. 


Lemuel Smith. 


1820-21. Isaac Bonney. 


1793. 


Philip Wager. 


1822. John W. Hardy. 




Enoch Mudge. 


1823-24. Timothy Merritt. 


1794. 


Johu Chalmers. 


1825. Phineas Peck. 


1795. 


Zadoc Priest. 


1826. Edward T. Taylor. 




Cyrus Stebbins. 


1827. Charles Virgin. 




Thomas Coope. 


1828. Leonard GrifMn. 


1796, 


Daniel Ostrander. 


1829. Isaac Bonney. 




Joseph Snelling. 


1830. IraM. Bidwell. 


1797. 


Nathaniel Chapin. 


1831. Lewis Bates. 




"Wesley Budd. 


1832. Ephraim K. Avery. 


1798. 


Jordan Rexford. 


1833. Charles K. True. 




Daniel Webb. 


1834-35. Jefferson Haskell. 




John Broadhead. 


1836. John Lovejoy. 


1799. 


Ezekiel Caufield. 


1837-38. James C. Bontecou. 




Joshua Hall. 


1839-40. Ephraim Scott. 




Truman Bishop. 


1841-42. Charles Noble. 


1800. 


Joseph Snelling. 


1842-43. Van Renssalaer Osborn. 




Solomon Langdon. 


1843-44. Hebron Vincent. 


1801. 


John Finnegau. 


1844-45-46. Isaac Bonney. 




Daniel Fidler. 


1846-47-48. Jonathan Cady. 


1802. 


Reuben Hubbard. 


1848-49-50. Richard Livesey. 




Caleb Morris. 


1850-51. Frederick Upham. 




Allen H. Cobb. 


1851-52-53. Elihu Grant. 


1803. 


Alexander McLane. 


1853-54. George W. Stearns. 




Noble W. Thomas. 


1854-.55-56. Henry H. Smilli. 




Thomas Lyell. 


1856-57-58. Andrew McKeown. 


1801. 


Alexander ]McLaue. 


1858-59. William Livesey. 


1805. 


Joseph Snelling. 


1859-60. Henry Baylies. 




Nehemiah Coye. 


1860-61-62. David H. Ela. 




Ebenezer Easty. 


1862-63-64. Samuel F. Upham. 


1800- 


r. Joseph Snelling. 


1864-65-66. Micah J. Talbot. 


1808. 


Jordan Rexford. 


1866-67-68. T. Snowden Thomas. 


1809. 


Samuel ]SIerwin. 


1868-69-70. Daniel A. Whedon, d. d 


1810. 


Nehemiah Coye. 


1870-71. George L. Westgate. 


1811. 


Thomas Asbury. 


1871-72. Edgar M. Smith. 


1812- 


13. Asa Kent. 


1872-73-74. William T. Harlow. 


1814. 


Edward Hyde. 


1875-76-77. Edward Edson. 


1815. 


Benjamin R. Hoyt. 


1878-79-80. Wm. V. Morrison, d. d. 



THE METHODIST CHURCH. 273 

The principal officers of the society are as follows : — 
Trustees — Francis Bourn, President; George H. Burgess, 
Secretary; John W. Pearse, Treasurer ; David Waldron, Pe- 
ter Gladding, Walter B. Stanton, James T. Freeborn, Richard 
B. Franklin, George W. Simmons. Stewards — Mason 
Pearse, Ambrose Waldron, George J. Smith, Robert Gregg, 
George H. Peck, Edward Talbee, John Lawrence, William 
Smith, Ezra Dixon. Class Leaders — Richard B. Franklin, 
A. P. Marchant, Edward Fish, William R. Peck. Superintend- 
ent of Sunday School — George H. Peck. 
Whole number of members of the church in full con- 
nection, 327 

Whole number of probationers, ... 81 



Total, 408 

Number in Sunday School, .... 310 



Note. Since the foregoing- pages were printed, the author has learned that 
the date of the formation of the flrst class, given on page 203, is not the correct 
one. The church was founded in the summer of 1791, and is therefore the oldest, 
but one, of the Methodist Churches in New England. The church in Lynn, Mass., 
only is older. In the year 1T91 Jesse Lee made a second visit to the town. It was 
during this visit, and through his personal efforts, that the church sprang into ex- 
istence. The Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Upham is the authority for this statement. 
While Dr. Upham was the pastor of the church, he prepared a very full and 
complete sketch of its early history, some of its flrst members being then alive and 
able to supply the needed information. This sketch, unfortunately, was never 
published. Some time ago it passed out of its author's hands, and cannot now be 
found. Its loss is very greatly to be deplored. 



18 



Chapter xxxiv. 



THE VOYAGE OF " NORWEST JOHN." 

On the thirteenth day of August, 1804, the ship "Juno" 
sailed out from the harbor of Bristol. Three months before, 
the vessel had brought into the town the first cargo it had 
ever received from a Chinese port. Now, as it passed away 
from sight, longing eyes watched its departure with an interest 
far exceeding that which a short time before had greeted its 
arrival. Another pioneer voyage was before it. Not until three 
years had dragged away did the beholders hope again to gaze 
upon it. It was bound for the northwest coast. Only a few 
years had elapsed since the enterprise of Boston had opened 
this new avenue to wealth, and the dangers, from hostile natives 
and unknown reefs, that still attended the voyage, deterred 
all but the most venturesome spirits from embarking their for- 
tunes in such an enterprise. 

The " Juno " was a full-rigged ship of two hundred and fifty 
tons, and was considered in every respect a " crack " vessel. 
She was filled Avith a cargo of goods, to be bartered for furs 
with the natives, and was worth, with her cargo, $35,000. On 
account of the dangerous business before her, a battery of 
eight guns had been placed on her decks, and she had likewise 
been provided with all the necessary implements of war. Her 
principal owners were James, Charles, and George DcWolf , and 
her captain was a relative of theirs, a young man only twenty- 
four years of age, John DeWolf. Her crew numbered twenty- 
six men, all told. They were Samuel G. Newell and John 
A. Thomas, mates ; James Moorfield, clerk ; Richard Cam- 



THE VOYAGE OF " NORWEST JOHN." 275 

mett and Joseph Hooper, armorers ; Thomas Hunt, boat- 
swain ; John Jones, carpenter; D. Bucklin, E. Bucklin, W. 
H. Tripp, D. Tatton, J. Stokes, J. Wheeler, W. Foy, J. 
Marshall, J. D. Cook, W. Phipps, J. Wheesner, J. Powers, S. 
Patterson, seamen; J.Hanson, cook ; E. D. Parker, musician ; 
R. Hitchcock, tailor ; and T. Murpliy and J. Mahoney, boys. 

Captain DeWolf passed the Cape Verde Islands, Sept. 24th. 
He was fifty-six days in reacliing " the Line," and crossed it 
in 24° west longitude. He filled the water-casks from the 
dense rains that came down while the vessel was lying be- 
calmed upon the equatorial seas. Not long afterwards the 
ship " Mary," bound from Boston on a similar voyage, was 
spoken, and the two captains agreed to " double tlie Horn " to- 
gether, — not an unusual arrangement in those days. Through 
the carelessness of the " Mary " the ships collided (fortunately 
without injury) not long after, and the agreement was conse- 
quently broken. Having rounded " the Horn," the " Mary" 
was again met on the 13th of December, and the ships sailed 
in company until Dec. 29tli. The " Juno " had then been 
138 days out ; her copper was badly worn away in places, and 
her stock of fuel was exhausted, so that only once each week 
could any cooking be done ; her captain therefore deemed it 
best to put into the nearest Chilian port to repair damages, 
and to take on board a supply of wood. On the 8th of Jan- 
uary the " Juno " reached Valparaiso, but was at once ordered 
to leave the bay. The United States were then only a feeble 
nation ; the English were all powerful upon the South Ameri- 
can coast, and no favors were shown to American ships. 
Captain DeWolf, nevertheless, remained at anchor long 
enough to take on a supply of wood and water, and then sailed 
for Coquimbo. At Coquimbo the necessary repairs were made. 
Leaving that port, Jan. 28th, on the 7th of April Vancouver's 
Island was sighted, and preparations for trading were at once 
begun. 

On the 10th of April the "Juno" dropped anchor at New- 
ettee, and found there the ship " Pearl," of Boston. New- 
ettee was only an inlet for trading, and the market had 



276 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

already been very thoroughly gleaned by the " Pearl." From 
thence the vessel proceeded to Kygarney, picking up a few 
furs at various points on the way. At Kygarney were found 
the ships " Vancouver " and " Caroline," of Boston. From 
that port the " Juno " sailed to Magee's Harbor, on Norfolk 
Sound, and anchored off the Russian fort. The governor of 
the Russian post was an officer of sixty-five years, who had 
spent eighteen years upon the coast. Captain DeWolf wisely 
made his acquaintance, and found him very genial and enter- 
taining. The lot of a Russian governor in that far-off region 
was not an enviable one, and the advent of this bright Ameri- 
can captain must have been to him very pleasant. At this 
port the supply of furs was not large, so down the coast the 
" Juno " sailed again to Newettee. Here were the " Lydia," 
the " Vancouver," and the " Atawhalpa," as well as the 
" Pearl " and the " Mary," all of Boston. The " Atawhalpa," 
while lying at anchor near the shore, had been attacked by 
the natives. Her captain and all the officers had been 
killed, and many of her crew had been wounded. Not long 
after this the " Juno " grounded while cruising too near the 
shore, and was left high upon the rocks, so that a man could 
walk under her, when the tide went down. With the fate of 
the " Atawhalpa " before their eyes, not much rest came to 
the crew until the returning tide floated them again into 
safety. The contact with the rocks had greatly damaged the 
copper upon the ship's bottom. Captain DeWolf therefore 
determined to go to Norfolk Sound to make the necessary . 
repairs under the protection of the guns of tlie Russian fort. 
On the 20th of August he sent one thousand sea-otter skins 
home by the " Mary." 

At Norfolk Sound the ship was beached, and found to be 
very much injured. Her commander, notwithstanding this 
fact, made preparations for a voyage to California. He pur- 
posed taking with him fifty or sixty of the Kodiak Indians, to 
catch the sea-otters, whose skins were so valuable. But while 
waiting for these Indians a Russian brig arrived, whose com- 
ing entirely changed his plans. On this brig was a noble- 



THE VOYAGE OF " NORWEST JOHN." 277 

man, Nicholas Resaiioff by name, one of the proprietors of 
the Russian American Company. Resanoff had lately been 
appointed an ambassador to Japan. He had come to the post 
to build a vessel in which to visit that country and the coast 
of California. Captain DeWolf jestingly offered to sell him 
the " Juno," and to his surprise found the Russian very anx- 
ious to conclude a bargain. The result of the jest was that 
the " Juno " (and her remaining cargo) was sold for 868,000. 
Captain DeWolf received : — Bills of exchange on the Rus- 
sian American Company's Directors at St. Petersburg, $54,- 
638 ; 572 sea-otter skins, valued at $13,062 ; Cash, $300. 
A difficulty had at first arisen respecting the disposition to 
be made with the crew of the " Juno." To meet this diffi- 
culty the Russian placed at the disposal of the Americans a 
small craft of forty tons — completely rigged, with two suits 
of sails, four guns, thirty muskets with necessary ammuni- 
tion, and provisions for the crew for one hundred days. This 
little vessel, the " Yermerk," was at once sent to Canton in 
charge of the first mate and the clerk. Captain DeWolf 
remained behind, with Parker as an attendant. Baron Res- 
anoff had invited him to take an overland journey to St. 
Petersburg, and the spirit of the young sailor leaped with 
delight at such a rare opportunity of beholding tlie vast Rus- 
sian Empire. 

The " Juno " sailed away on lier voyage, and the two 
Americans were left at the post to await her return. The 
Rhode Island captain was by no means idle. His room- 
mate was a German naturalist and doctor, named Langsdorff, 
and the two roamed at will through the surrounding country. 
The food furnished to the lower classes was not remarkable 
in quantity or quality. Dried fish, beans, and oil, were the 
staple articles. The officers lived well, and danced much to 
while away the time. The Sitka Indians regarded the strange 
foreigner with a very favorable eye, and showed him many 
kindnesses. The governor also took him at once to his 
heart. Together, they made the first garden ever known at 
New Archangel (and got quite " blue " afterward in celebrat- 



278 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

ing that noteworthy event, wrote the Captain, more than half 
a century afterward, in describing it). 

Captain DeWolf was disappointed in his plan for leaving 
the place. A twenty-five ton vessel was at last given him by 
the governor, and on the 30th of June, 1806, he sailed 
proudly away from the sound as skipper of this remarkable 
craft. His friend. Dr. Langsdorff , accompanied him. Parker, 
of course, shared his fortunes. His crew numbered seven 
men. But the vessel was a " tub " ; it never made more 
than five knots an hour, under the most favorable circum- 
stances. From port to port they went, and at one place took 
on board two passengers, a widow and her eighteen-year-old 
daughter. The widow brought with her a stock of provis- 
ions, several barrels of eggs put up in oil, smoked geese, 
dried and pickled fish, etc. The superintendent objected to 
the departure of the widow, but it seemed a matter of human- 
ity to take her home from that barren coast, and the officer's 
objections vanished in the barrel of the " ardent" which was 
placed at his disposal. 

The dreary Arctic ice covered the waters in the early fall, 
and on the 22d of September the " tub " was obliged to put 
into Petropowlowsk for the winter. This afforded the Bristol 
sailor an opportunity for mastering the art of sledging. He 
also acted as godfather at a christening, making fifteen cir- 
cuits round a tub with the other participants in the ceremony, 
as a part of the exercises. On the 26th of May, with eighteen 
persons, all told, on board, he left the winter harbor, and on 
the 27tli of June reached Ochotsk in safety. 

Then the most novel part of the journey began. From 
Ochotsk, the " Great American Captain " was sent on with 
all haste to Yakutsk, on the Lena River, five hundred miles 
away, special horses being furnished him from the post sta- 
tions along the route. Thence, iu a hired boat, he went up 
the Lena River to L-kutsk, the capital of Siberia. Every time 
he stopped, crowds flocked together to see the wonderful curi- 
osity, " the Great American Captain on a boat, going on gov- 
ernment business." To Tomsk, the journey was made by^:?er- 



THE VOYAGE OP " NORWEST JOHN." 279 

voska — a box rounded at the bottom and fastened to the axle- 
tree. It had a covered half-top like a cradle ; the captain put in 
a feather bed and pillows, thinking thus to " get along with- 
out much chafing." Yain hope — he reached Tomsk "used 
up." The patent pervoska in which he had taken so much 
pride, was a delusion. He got one on springs instead, with 
room for two, and took in a passenger, Dementy Simonitch. 
With him he journeyed to Tobolsk, the ancient capital of 
Siberia. There he noted the peculiarities of a Russian leave- 
taking. The ladies and gentlemen took their places in a row. 
The gentlemen laid their right hands on each others backs, and 
kissed each other on the cheeks. The ladies kissed the gen- 
tlemen upon the cheek, but gave in return only the back of their 
right hands to be saluted ; a most aggravating proceeding it 
was to the impulsive young sailor, who was sorely tempted to 
violate etiquette in the case of one young lady of great 
beauty. From Tobolsk, he passed to Ekatereinburg, to Mos- 
cow, to St. Petersburg, — the first American lulto had made that 
wonderful journey . His bills of exchange had been made for 
Spanish dollars. They were at fifteen per cent, premium. On 
the first day of April, 1808, after an absence of three years and 
eight months, Captain DeWolf returned to his home in this 
town. In two years and six months from the day when the 
" Juno " sailed out of the port, her owners had received the 
net proceeds of the voyage. It resulted in a clear profit of 
one hundred thousand dollars. 

It is not to be wondered at that the sobriquet of " Norwest 
John " was for years one most familiar to Bristol lips, and 
well might its owner be proud of the designation. It was 
given him on his return, to distinguish him from others who 
bore the name of John DeWolf. It clung to him until his 
death. A rare old age was vouchsafed him. He retired 
from the seas in 1828, and for some dozen years devoted him- 
self to the cultivation of the farm near Mount Hope, on which 
Bishop Howe now lives. About the year 1840, he removed 
to Roxbury, Mass. Late in life he printed in book form the 
account of his voyage, from which the foregoing abstract was 
made. He died in Dorchester, Mass., March 8, 1872, aged 92. 



Chapter xxxv. 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 

Alexander Viets Griswold was born in Simsbury, Hart- 
ford County, Conn., April 22, 1766. Elisha Griswold, his 
father, was descended from Matthew Griswold, an English- 
man, who came to America about the year 1630. His mother 
was the grand-daughter of Alexander Viets, a German physi- 
cian who settled in Connecticut during the first half of the 
eighteenth century. His parents on both sides " were respect- 
able, and considered wealthy in a town where few, if any, were 
possessed of larger estates." In his early youth lie displayed 
the quick intelligence, the amiable disposition, and the love 
of study, which marked his whole life. 

The Rev. Roger Viets, his maternal uncle, was a graduate 
of Yale College, a fine scholar, and a man of very unusual abil- 
ities ; he possessed the largest and best library of the region 
in which he lived. At the age of ten young Griswold went 
to live with this uncle. His days were spent in labor upon 
a farm; the evenings were devoted to study. Mr. Viets was 
a most excellent teacher ; he saw the great capabilities of his 
nephew, and did all that was in his power to develop his latent 
talents. It was at first intended that the young man should be 
educated at Yale College, but tlie means of his father were so 
straightened during the troubled years of the Revolution, that 
it was deemed best for him to be prepared for entrance to the 
senior class. The close of the struggle for Independence pre- 
vented this plan from being carried into effect. Mr. Viets 




Rt. Rev. A. V. Griswold, D. D. 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 281 

was one of the clergymen who remained loyal to the English 
Crown. A living in Nova Scotia was offered him by the 
" Propagation Society," and he accepted it. He urged his 
nejihew to accompany him to Ins new field of labor. The 
young man determined to forego the honor of a college 
diploma, and to accept the invitation. His uncle's careful 
teaching and carefully selected library (every book of which 
young Griswold had read) had undoubtedly prepared him as 
well for his life's work, as a college course of four years in 
those unsettled times could have done. 

For some time he had been tenderly attached to Elizabeth 
Mitchelson, the daughter of a neigliboring farmer. The jour- 
ney to remote Nova Scotia was then one that could be ac- 
complished only with great difficulty, and at very great cost. 
Fi'cquent communication with Connecticut was out of the 
question. When Mr. Griswold might return to claim his 
bride was uncertain. The pair were married, and together 
prepared to set out for their new home. This step, taken to 
facilitate the departure for Nova Scotia, was really the means 
of preventing it altogether. The relatives of Mrs. Griswold 
deemed the bleak northern climate too severe for her delicate 
frame, and persuaded her husband to remain in Connecticut. 
Thus, the future bishop was not allowed to bury himself in the 
obscurity of a remote pi-ovince, but was saved for the useful 
and honorable career tnat awaited him in New England. 

Jn 1794 he determined to become a clergyman of the Epis- 
copal Church, and was that year admitted as a candidate for 
orders. In the following June he was ordained as deacon, 
and in October, 1795, was advanced to the priesthood by 
Bishop Seabury. His first charge was in Litchfield County, 
Conn. It comprised the parishes of Plymouth, Harwinton, 
and Litchfield. Says Dr. Stone, in his Life of the Bishop : 
" His ministry in Litchfield County was as humble as it was 
laborious ; but it left behind a gracious, sweet savor, which is 
tasted with satisfaction in the remembrances yet living among 
the hills." Part of his support was earned by labor upon a 
farm. In the harvest time he often worked as a day laborer 



282 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

for seventy-five cents per day. He was a man of miglity 
frame, and herculean strength ; " one of his day's works was 
worth as much as that of two common men." Many are the 
incidents that have been transmitted concerning that Immble 
life. 

" On a general view of the first ten years of his ministry, 
Mr. Griswold is found to have acted in various capacities : 
as a teacher of the district school in the winter; as a day 
laborer among his parishioners in tlie summer ; and as a 
sharer in all the lowly occupations and cares of a country 
life among the retired hills of Connecticut ; as well as in the 
proper duties of his office as a Christian teacher and spirit- 
ual pastor to his flock. He shunned nothing in truth that 
could bring him into most familiar and unguarded inter- 
course with his people. . . . And yet, in all his famil- 
iarity with them, in the harvest field, by the wayside, in' his 
fishing excursions by night, in his school discipline of the 
urchins committed to his care, in all his unbendings and 
minglings with his people, he never forgot his character as a 
minister of Christ ; was never off his guard; never said, or 
did, on week days, what could mar his proper influence on 
the Sabbath ; when he entered the house of God, and spoke 
as an ambassador for Christ, there was nothing to detract 
from the power of his speech, or to counteract the influence 
of his wise instructions." * 

In 1803 he visited Bristol, not witli any idea of leaving his 
post in Connecticut, but simply to see a country that was new 
to him, and to obtain a little relaxation. The parish of St. 
Michael was then without a rector, and he was invited to take 
charge of it. He declined the invitation. The prospects of 
increased usefulness, or of personal advantage, did not seem 

* stone's Life of Bishop Griswold, 88-89. " Riding along the road one day, he 
passed the garden of one of his parishioners, who was a justice of the peace. The 
' Squire * was preparing to remove a rock, or large stone, from his garden 
ground. The earth had been dug from around it ; and 'Squire W. and his men were 
lifting hard, but in vain, to i-emove it. Seeing this, Mr. Griswold sprang from his 
horse, leaped the garden fence, and, though in his best dress, seized the fresh 
earthed stone, and, with an exertion of his almost herculean strength, helped them 
heave it from its bed. Such were his habits of intercourse with his flock." 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 28S 

to him to warrant the change. The parish was offered to liim 
a second time, and he again refused it. In his autobiograpliy 
he says : " 1 then supposed I should hear no more from Bris- 
tol. But, about the middle of the following winter, to my sur- 
prise, one of their most respectable parishioners, Mr. William 
Pearse, a warden of the church, appeared at my house with 
still more pressing solicitations that I should take the charge 
of that destitute parish ; urging many reasons why it Avas 
my duty to consent to the change. This affected me seriously, 
and there seemed to be in it a call of Divine Providence. To 
leave a people who had been so uniformly kind to me, and all 
of whom, without exception, I had reason to believe, ivonld be 
grieved at my leaving tliem, excited in my mind a painful 
struggle, which they only wlio have been called to the like 
trial, can realize. It is sufficient to say that with fear and 
trembling I gave my consent, and in May, 1804, one year after 
my first visit there, I was in Bristol with my family. Bishop 
Jarvis had given his consent that I should spend a few years 
there, though at the same time expressing a wish that I 
should, after that, return to his diocese." 

It was through the liberality of James DeWolf, that the 
transfer was accomplished. A small vessel belonging to Mr, 
DeWolf, was by him sent to Hartford, the port upon the Con- 
necticut River nearest to Harwinton, to transport Mr. Griswold 
and his household to Bristol. Harwinton was distant some 
twenty miles from the river. Capt. John DeWolf, who bad 
not yet earned his famous sobriquet, was sent in charge of 
the vessel. 

Mr. Griswold found about twenty-five families connected 
with the church. There were not quite as many communi- 
cants. The town numbered, perhaps, two thousand inhabit:! nts. 
It was full of energy and physical vigor. Its wharves were 
lined with vessels from the West Indian ports, and it was just 
beginning to engage in the more extensive commerce with 
Europe and the East, that afterward made it so famous. But 
very little interest was felt in religious matters. In some re- 
spects, therefore, the change was not a promotion for the new 



284 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

rector. He had left three large parishes, with more than two 
hundred communicants, to assume the spiritual direction of 
one with hardly one-tenth of that number. Yet tlie removal 
seems to have been providentially brought about. Unseen 
forces were at work in Bristol, and the presence of Mr. Gris- 
wold was as potent as any other influence in producing the 
change in the moral atmosphere of the town. The annual 
income (mostly derived from the Kay bequest) of the rector 
of the parish was at this time about six hundred dollars 
per annum, — too small a sum to support the large family of 
Mr. Griswold, in a place where the expenses of living were 
larger than in most towns in New England. He was therefore 
obliged to eke out liis income by teaching a select school. 
The same life of self-denial and lowly toil seemed before him 
that had been his lot in Connecticut. 

The new rector found that in some respects his parish was 
very different from his old field of labor. During the first 
years of his ministry political excitement was unusually fierce 
throughout the country, and from many of tlie "Orthodox " 
pulpits, fiery sermons were delivered, that discussed in the 
freest manner the party questions that were daily arising. 
Into this discussion Mr. Griswold never entered. Even in 
familiar conversation it was exceedingly difficult to ascertain 
his political views. In his pulpit such themes were never al- 
luded to. 

" His early preacliing. like that which generally prevailed 
in our church at that time, was rather moral than evangeli- 
cal ; that is, devoted more to the illustration and enforcement 
of the moral precepts and virtues of Christianity, than to the 
development and application of the spiritual truths and doc- 
trines of the Gospel. ... In his moral preaching, how- 
ever, there was a point, a plainiiess, and a sort of quickening 
vitality." * In Connecticut more than in any otlier state was 
there exceeding intolerance in the matter of religious belief. 
The Calvinists of that State sneered at the Episcopalians as 
formalists and bigots ; the Episcopalians looked upon the 

* Dr. Stone's Life. 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 285 

Calvinists as fanatics. From the pulpits of both religious bod- 
ies sermons were delivered that dwelt almost entirely upon 
sectarian divisions, and matters of controversy. The follow- 
ing extract from the bishop's autobiography, written when 
he was seventy-four years of age, is therefore specially 
interesting : — 

"In Rhode Island I found a materially different condition of things. 
Those of my sermons, which, in Connecticut had appeared to be most 
acceptable, and were most applauded, gave offense in Bristol, Provi- 
dence, and Newport; and I soon found that, by continuing the controver- 
sial style of preaching, some of her most pious members would be driven 
from the church. This was particularly true of those called Methodists. 
They had recently formed a society in Bristol, consisting of a few re- 
spectable people, who had been communicants in the Congregational 
Church. On my arrival in Bristol, they had a minister who preached 
for them one-half of the time; and as I was informed (too late, indeed), 
they at once passed a resolution in their meeting, that they would for 
the other half, attend my ministry. It has since been my belief, that 
bad I, in my teaching at that time, followed the example of St. Paul, 
(1 Cor. ii., 2; ix., 19-22) they would have united with the Episcopal 
Church. But, the Lord reigns; and perhaps He ordered it for the best. 
The Episcopal Church was soon filled ; and the Methodists soon had a large 
society there, and have been instrumental of much good. So far as I 
know, I was, of our clergy in New England, the first to hold evening lec- 
tures. Though this is now a thing so common, yet it was then by many 
of our good people exceedingly disliked. Our Bishop in Connecticut 
once observed in my hearing, ' night preaching and pulpit praying are 
two things which I abhor.' But other denominations practised both; 
and soon after my settlement in Bristol I found that many of my iiarish- 
ioners attended these meetings; and it was, at first, from fear of the re- 
sult of their straying away among those who appeared to have more 
zeal, that I proposed to our Yestry, and with difficvdty obtained their 
leave to open my church for a third service on Sunday evenings. I have 
had reason to believe that this was the most fruitful part of my minis- 
try, because more people attended at the third service than at the other 
two, not a few of whom attended our service at no other time. I con- 
tinued the practice of three services every Sunday for thirty years; 
so long indeed as I had a parish particularly under my pastoral care." 

In 1809 he was invited to the rectorship of St. Michael's 
Church, Litchfield, Conn. Both the situation and the terms 
upon which it was offered, were very favorable ; he deter- 
mined to accept it. He was diverted from his purpose by an 
occurrence, to him totally unexpected, and in his view exceed- 



286 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

ingly providential. On the twenty-ninth day of May, 1810, 
the delegates from the churches in Massachusetts, Rhode Is- 
land, New Hampshire, and Vermont, met together in the city 
of Boston to elect a bishop for the eastern diocese. Their 
choice fell upon Alexander Y. Griswold. Mr. Griswold was 
one of the delegates from Rhode Island, but no thought of 
his election to the office seems to have entered his mind. 
When the idea was suggested to him that he was to be chosen, 
he was thrown into the wildest agitation, and absolutely re- 
fused to entertain it. When the vote of the Convention was 
made known he was completely overpowered by his emotions, 
and after a few moments' pause rose and refused to accept the 
proffered honor. He appeared overwhelmed with a sense of 
his own unfitness. Only after the earnest solicitation of the 
clergy in the eastern diocese was he prevailed upon to assume 
the responsibilities of the position. May 29, 1811, he was 
consecrated bishop, in Ti'inity Church, New York City. 

Concerning the effect which his elevation to the Episcopate 
produced upon Mr. Griswold, the Rev. Dr. Crocker, of St. 
John's Cliurch, Providence, wrote as follows : "■ To all who 
knew him intimately, and observed him carefully, it was ob- 
vious that his providential promotion was the means of bring- 
ing home to his heart, with a power which he had never before 
felt, the conviction that he was an appointed instrument in 
the hands of God for the good of his people. His public dis- 
courses assumed a warmth, an unction, an authority, an evan- 
gelical character, that had not previously belonged to them. 
And it should never be forgotten that the extraordinary revi- 
val in the summer of 1812, one year after his consecration, 
was the fruit of his growing faithfulness." 

Concerning the revival of 1812, the bishop writes thus in 
his autobiography : — 

"In the year 1812, there was in Bristol an awakened attention to the 
subject of religion, which was very wonderful, and the like of which I 
had never before witnessed. It commenced among the members of my 
parish, when no such thing was looked for, nor indeed thought of. No 
unusual eiforts had been made with any view to such an excitement. 
My administering of confirmation in the parish a few months previously 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 287 

had not improbably some effect. My recent ordination to the Episcopate 
was the means of awakening my own mind to more serious thoughts of 
duty as a minister of Christ; and in consequence I had, no doubt, 
with more earnest zeal preached ' Jesus Christ and him crucified.' The 
change which I first noticed was the appearance of increased seriousness 
in the congregation; especially in leaving the church after service. 
There was little or no hiughing, or merry salutation among the people; 
neither talking of worldly things. After the benediction, and a minute 
of private prayer, they retired silent and thoughtful. Some soon began 
to express a religious concern respecting their spiritual state, and were 
anxious to know ' what they should do to be saved.' 

" In consequence of this awakened and increasing inquiry, I began to 
meet with them one or two evenings in the week, not only that we might 
unite in praying that they might be led into the way of truth, and enjoy 
the comfoits of hope, and of peace in believing, but that I might save 
time to myself and them, by conversing at the same time with a number 
who were in the same state of mind. 1 soon found that the number of 
such inquirers had increased to about thirty; and in a very short time 
the awakening was general throughout the town and was very wonder- 
ful. Yery much to my regret, the number of communicants had hith- 
erto been small, — but about forty ; and yet, notwithstanding the very zeal- 
ous efforts of those of other denominations to draw the converts to their 
respective communions, a large number of adults (forty-four) were bap- 
tized, and a hundred were added to my communion of whom more than 
half had before been accustomed to attend worship in other places or in 
no place. These conveits were not encouraged in ranting, or in any en- 
thusiastic raptures; nor did they incline to any extravagance ; but gladly 
hearkened to the words of truth and soberness; and very few of them 
afterwards 'turned from the holy commandment delivered unto them.' " 

More than half a century has passed away since that great 
religious wave swept through the town. But even now the 
aged cheeks will glow, and the eyes that have been dimmed 
by the passing years will sparkle again with the brightness 
of youth as the memories of that wonderful time are called 
up. The first among the laymen to take part in the move- 
ment was a sea-captain who had just returned from a voyage 
to the Island of Trinidad. Before he left Bristol, the un- 
wonted fervor of Bishop Griswold's sermons and discourses 
had turned his thoughts toward the attainment of the holier 
and higher life, whose glories the bishop was ever placing 
before his people. The awful solemnity of the ocean had 
completed the lesson. On Saturday night he returned from 
his voyage. The next day, when the bishop had finished his 



288 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

sermon, the emotions that stirred the soul of the sailor en- 
tirely overcame the modesty that usually kept him back from 
the public notice. Rising from his seat, he went forward to 
the old wine-glass pulpit in which the preacher was yet stand- 
ing, and conversed with him earnestly for a few moments, 
while the congregation looked on with amazement at the un- 
usual interruption. With that benignant smile which marked 
his gentle nature, Bishop Griswold assented to the request 
that was preferred ; and placing his hand upon the shoulder of 
the eager enthusiast, he turned to tlie congregation and said : 

" My friends. Captain wishes to tell you what the Lord 

has done for his soul." Then the quiet sailor told to the 
congregation the story of the change that had been wrought 
in him ; told it without a thought of the unusual part lie was 
assuming ; told it in the simplest words, with no attempt at 
eloquence or effect, but with the wondrous power of God's 
love so plainly before his eyes that the minds of all his hear- 
ers went with him upon the sea, and felt the struggle which 
had brought his soul out of darkness into light. Never, even, 
had the inspired words of their pastor stirred the people of 
St. Michael's Church more strongly. When he ceased there 
was hardly a dry eye in the congregation. Only a few well- 
chosen words did the bishop add to intensify the lesson, and 
then dismissed his people with the usual benediction. From 
that day the revival became general. Through the town it 
spread, till the mind of every one was turned to thoughts of 
the life that was to come. The sound of the workman's 
hammer was unheard for a season, the horses stood idle in 
their stalls, the noise of merry laughter ceased as the crowds 
of serious worshipers poured onward to the churches. For 
days these remarkable scenes could be witnessed ; their effect 
could be observed for years, — can still be traced, in fact. 
Such a revival now would be impossible ; the busy manufac- 
turing town of to-day would turn carelessly away from words 
to which the ears that were accustomed to tales of dreadful 
disaster upon the ocean, lent a willing attention. 



BISHOP GRTSWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 289 

The influence of tlic revival spread throughout the diocese. 
In St. John's Church, Providence, the Rev. Dr. Crocker felt 
its quickening effects and rejoiced in the more ready at- 
tention that was given to his more earnest words. Rev. Dr. 
Henshaw, the future l)ishop of Rhode Island, was an assistant 
to Bishop Griswold at the time. He never forgot the lessons 
then learned in IJristol. 

Of the effects of this awakening upon the parish, Dr. Tyug, 
who became a resident of Bristol seven years later, writes as 
follows : "The revival of 1812 consolidated and established 
the parish of Bristol as one of the most flourishing and truly 
Christian churches in the diocese. It gave it a reputation and 
an influence among the Episcopal churches of New England, 
as distinct and marked as the Church of North Hampton, 
under the ministry of Jonathan Edwards. But, unlike that 
church, its conservative Episcopacy kept it from all dissen- 
sions, and its inwrought submission to its venerated and faith- 
ful pastor, established it in complete unity of faith and feeling 
among the Christian people who constituted the Church of 
God therein. Never, perhaps, was the conserving influence of 
Episcopal principles, institutions and ordinances, more re- 
markably and honorably displayed." 

By some of his clergy, mainly those of Massachusetts, Bishop 
Griswold's course in this revival was criticised as being en- 
tirely at variance with the traditions and customs of the Epis- 
copal Church. The bishop's own testimony shows the injustice 
of the criticism. His ready mind divined at once the proper 
course to pursue under the unusual circumstances, and his rare 
executive ability enal)lcd him to avoid the difficulties that 
might have blocked the path of a less able man. In this con- 
nection the testimony of Dr. Tyng is again of value. " Of all 
the men in our church, Bishop Griswold was intensely an 
Episcopalian, — an Episcopalian born and bred. All his 
habits, tastes, and convictions, were on the side of his own 
church, and in favor of its ministries and forms, its liturgies 
and articles." 

According to the almost invariable rule, this period of in- 

19 



290 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

tense religious excitement was followed in a few years by one 
of religious apathy. In tliis case, perhaps, the change which 
the bishop laments as he makes his daily entry in his diary, 
was more apparent to him than to those who were not famil- 
iar with the church. When Dr. Tyng commenced his life in 
Bristol, in 1819, he thought he had never before seen a more 
flourishing cliurch. Sixty years afterwards he writes, " a more 
really flourishing Christian church I have never seen since." 
But if the minds of his congregation were somewhat diverted 
from religious thoughts, not in the slightest degree was it due 
to the remissness of their religious teacher. The cares of 
his large diocese weighed heavily upon him, but not on this 
account did he neglect the welfare of the parish to which he 
had become so tenderly attached. His labors in its behalf 
became more unremitting, and at last the change came. Dr. 
Tyng thus describes it : — 

*' In the opening of the year 1820 a new and very wonclerfiil scene and 
exj^erience was presented to me in this work of my youthful ministry. 
Bristol was visited with a very remarkable revival of religion, the mani- 
fest work of the spirit of God. At this time there had been but little in 
the previous autumn to indicate it. Our weekly meetings had not been 
largely attended in the immediately preceding months, partly perhaps 
owing to the weather, but more to the spirit of worldliness which had 
been spreading abroad. On the last precedent Friday evening, the reg- 
ular week night, not twenty persons were present in the school-room in 
which the meetings were held. The aspect was very discouraging. On 
the succeeding Sunday evening, the Bishop, after preaching twice in the 
day, was taken ill in the evening service, and was unable to complete his 
sermon. The effect of this sudden interruption was very solemn and 
impressive. Ue was assisted slowly to his house by some of his friehds. 
The residue of the congregation wei"e gathered in small companies for 
mutual expression around the church. As I came out of the church, I 
stopped where one such company were assembled around a young 
woman as if she were sick. On approaching the i^lace, I was called to 
her as one in deep spiritual distress. This proved to be the first drop 
of a gracious shower. 

" The next moi-ning to this Sabbath was probably occupied in every 
family with thought and conversation about the events which had occurred 
on this evening. The day revealed an extensive, almost an universal in- 
fluence and interest, awakened among the people. The general conversa- 
tion became dii-ected to the one subject of religious truth and teaching. 
As we mingled in our common acquaintance, this change of general feel- 
ing among the people was displayed in a very remarkable manner. Sue- 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 291 

ceedtng days indicated tlie same feeling still increasing and extending. 
This wide-spread earnestness among the church people demanded an as- 
sembling for the special consideration of the subject, and made them 
imwilling to wait until the regular weekly meeting on Friday evening. 
We therefore a^jpointed one for Thursday evening, in a private house * 
opposite the church. 

" It was with unbounded surprise that I went into the house at the hour 
appointed. It was crowded in every room, stair-case and entry, as if 
some unusuallj^ crowded funeral were there. Butforministering to this 
people, hungry for the bread of life, I was there alone. They had placed 
a Bible and Prayer-book on the first landing of the stairs. The people 
were crowded above me and below me, as far as my eye could reach, 
in the most eager attention to the Word. It was the most solemn assem- 
bly I had ever seen, and its impression upon my mind and memory, was 
overwhelming and abiding. But this was the commencement of months 
of work of a similar description; and from this day we had a similar 
meeting appointed for every evening. These were held in various rooms 
and houses throughout the town. The evening meetings were usually 
held in the Academy Hall. My whole time for about three months was 
given up to this one work. Three times every day I was engaged in ad- 
dressing different assemblies in different parts of the town and of the 
surrounding country, and in conversing with awakened and anxious per- 
sons connected with these meetings. 

"Such a scene in human society as Bristol then displayed, I had never 
imagined. The whole town was given up to this one work. The busi- 
ness of the world was for a time suspended. The stores were in many 
instances closed, as if the whole week were a Sabbath. The general 
thought of the people seemed to be devoted to the one great purpose of 
the soul's salvation. The reality and depth of the impression were 
proved by the large number of persons who became truly the fol- 
lowers of the Lord Jesus. During the most of this period the Bishop 
was confined to his house by sickness. As soon as he was able to be 
abroad, a confirmation was appointed in the Church." 

More than one hundred persons were confirmed as a result 
of this revival. As in the former case in 1812, the work 
whicli began in St. Michael's was quickly spread throughout 
the town, and the other congregations received equall}^ large 
accessions. From other towns came crowds of people to 
gaze upon the scenes that were daily presented. From Fall 
River a packet brought a full load of sight-seers. Tlie voy- 
age was prompted only by curiosity, but when the hour came 
for the return of the vessel the captain waited in vain for his 
passengers. They, too, had yielded to the wonderful in- 

* Mr. William H. Bell now lives in the house. 



292 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

fluences of the hour, and had joined tlie throng of worshipers. 
Tlie next day the most of them went back, no longer scoffers 
but penitents. 

For nine years longer Bishop Griswold continued to reside 
in Bristol. Almost as soon as he had been consecrated he 
had been advised and besought to take up his abode in a 
more central location, from whence he could more easily 
reach all the parts of his large diocese. But the old town 
was exceedingly dear to him. When he removed from Har- 
winton to Bristol he took with him a wife and eight beautiful 
children. When he removed from Bristol to Salem all but 
one of them were dead. In the cliurchyard, just behind the 
chancel, were eight white marble tombstones. There lay the 
wife of his youth,* and there were sleeping three of the chil- 
dren who had been born to him in Bristol. It is not won- 
derful that he clung to the place with all the strength of his 
nature, and resisted for so long a time the temptations that 
were offered to induce him to remove from it. 

In 1830 he removed to Salem and assumed the rectorship 
of St. Peter's Church. Five years later the pressure of cir- 
cumstances forced him to resign this parish also, to devote 
himself entirely to his Episcopal duties. He removed to Bos- 
ton and there spent the remainder of liis life. On the 15th 
of February, 1843, the aged servant of God was called away 
from his labors. For some years he had felt that death would 
come to him suddenly, but the consciousness had brought 
with it no feeling of terror. When the sun was going down 
his duty led him to the residence of the man who had lately 
been chosen to assist him in the work of the diocese, Bisliop 
Eastburn. With his usual firm tread he mounted the steps; 
but as he reached the top the message came. The eyes of 
his successor rested upon his dead form when the door was 
opened. No man was ever more sincerely mourned. 

The amount of literary work which Bishop Griswold ac- 
complished in addition to the labor a parish ordinarily im- 
poses, was really marvelous. While in Bristol, as he writes 

* Bishop Griswold was twice married. His second wife was Mrs. Amelia Smith, 
the widow of a brother of Bishop Smith, of Kentucky. 



BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE GREAT REVIVALS. 293 

in his autobiography, he delivered several courses of lectures, 
one course of about eighty or ninety on the four Gospels in har- 
mony. These lectures he was urged to publish, but declined 
to do so. He afterwards destroyed them, with twelve or 
fourteen hundred manuscript sermons besides. " I also de- 
livered a series of discourses, thirty-three in number, on the 
Acts of the Apostles ; about twelve on the Catholic Doctrine 
of tlic Trinity ; one on each of the Ten Commandments, to 
which I added five on our Lord's summary of the Decalogue, 
several on the Catechism and the Apostles' Creed, and one on 
each chapter of the Revelation of St. John. I also delivered 
a course of seventy lectures on the five books of Moses." 
These courses of lectures were all delivered Sunday evenings. 
They show how careful was his style of work and how thorough 
was his knowledge of the subjects concerning which he wrote. 
" However little the world may have been aware of it, that 
quiet, modest, humble bishop drew from his German ancestry 
so large an inspiration of the German industry, aye, and of 
German genius for scholarship, that, had he been even mod- 
erately able to indulge his inclinations, free as he was by 
Divine grace from German errors, he could not have failed 
of leaving behind him, as the fruit of his long life of study, 
some of the most precious as well as abundant contributions 
to tlic theological learning of the Church." * 

He also found time to superintend the studies and direct 
the work of many students in what Dr. Stone calls " the best 
theological seminary which the eastern diocese ever had, — 
perhaps the best that any diocese will ever have." Alexander 
Jones, S. Brenton Shaw, J. H. Coit, Stephen H. Tyng, J. P. 
K. Henshaw, Southerland Douglass, William Horton, Norris 
M. Jones, James Tyng, George Griswold, Joseph Muenscher, 
and James Wallis Eastburn, were among his pupils. (Mr. 
Eastburn was a brother of the late Bishop of ^Massachusetts. 
He came to Bristol in 1816. In connection with Mr. Robert 
C. Sands he wrote Yamoydcn; A Tale of the Wars of King 
Philip^ a poem in six cantos. This work was commenced in 

* Dr. stone's Life of Bishop GrimvoM, page 18«. 



294 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

November, 1817, and finished during tlie succeeding year. A 
copy may be found at the Rogers Free Library. Mr. Eastburn 
was but twenty years of age, and Mr. Sands but eigliteen, 
when the poem was written.) 

Yery soon after his coming to Bristol, Mr. Griswold entered 
into the intimate relations with Brown University which he 
maintained throughout most of his life. In 1810 he was made 
a Master of Arts ; and in 1811, very soon after his election to 
the Episcopate, he received from the college the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity (Princeton in 1811, and Harvard in 1812, 
conferred the same degree upon him). Sept. 2, 1812, he was 
elected a member of the "Board of Fellows," and in 1815, 
was made the " Chancellor of the University." This office he 
held until his removal to Salem. In 1832 he was elected a 
member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Brown. His inter- 
est in the fortunes of the University never waned. 

By a strange combination of circumstances, the remains of 
the first and only bishop of the eastern diocese do not lie in 
Bristol, among the people with whom his life was most closely 
connected. At his death his body was placed beneath the 
chancel of Trinity Church, Boston. Shortly before the fire 
came which reduced the church and a great part of the city to 
ashes, they were carried to Dedham, and there, in St. Paul's 
Churchyard, under.the shadow of a massive monument, they 
now repose. In St. Michael's Church, Bristol, a mural tablet 
bears this inscription to his memory : — 

In memory of the 

RT. REV. A. V. GRISWOLD, D. D., , 

Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, 

and for many years Rector of this Church. 

Born in Simsbury, Conn., April 22, 1TG6, 

Died in Boston, Mass., Feb'y 15, 1843. 

A noble man, a true Christian. 

A faithful pastor, a Holy Bishop, 

Combining' singular moderation with 

immovable firmness, 

Great ability with beautiful modestj-, 

Earnest piety 

with the widest charity. 

After a long life of extended usefulness, 

with no stain upon his memory, 

he has entered into rest. 

" The memory of the just is blessed," 



Chapter xxxvi. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

1811-1880. 

" The First Baptist Church in Bristol originated in the conscientious 
convictions of a pious physician, Dr. Tliomas Nelson. He came to 
Bristol in the year 1801, and feeling the want of the church privileges 
to which he had been accustomed, he determined to remove, and with 
this end in view, sailed for New York. A terrific storm arose, the 
packet was wrecked, and all on board were lost except two, one of 
whom was Dr. Nelson. The impression made upon his mind was such 
that he felt himself another Jonali, having attempted in vain to flee 
from the presence of the Lord. This was at the close of 1807. He 
returned to Bristol, and in a few years welcomed into the town a num- 
ber of the same faith as himself. In 1811 there were enough, it was 
thought, to constitute a church, which was accordingly formed August 
22d of that year, with twenty-three members. By the close of the fol- 
lowing year this number was more than doubled. Preaching was main- 
tained at intervals by different ministers, then statedly by the Kev. 
Simeon Coombs. Rev. James M. Winchell, the first Pastor, commenced 
his labors in October, 1812. By an act of marked courtesy* on the part 
of Bishop Griswold, then Rector of St. Michael's Church, the ordination 
services took place in that church, the sermon being preached by Presi- 
dent Messer, of Brown University. At this time the Baptist place of 
worship was in the house of Dr. Nelson, on what is now State Street, 
a large upper room having been finished by him for that purpose. 
The house is still standing next east of the present Baptist parsonage. 
Meanwhile arrangements were made to build the substantial stone 
edifice still occupied by the church, which was dedicated in November, 
1814. The building is 4.'3x(35 feet, with an audience-room accommodating 
about five hvmdred; is tastefully frescoed, and furnished with a fine 
organ. There is a lecture-room below, with a committee-room adjoin- 
ing." — From an Historical Sketch by the Bev. Howard M. Jones. 

These are the names of those who were recognized as the 
First Baptist Church in J3ristol. " Tliey are 23 in all, 7 



* By a somewhat similar act of courtesy on the part of the bishop, the use of 
the pulpit of St. Michael's Church was granted, five j'ears later, to Bishop Chov- 
erus, the first Koman Catholic Bishop of Boston. 



296 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

males and 16 females. Males — Thomas Nelson, Lemuel W. 
Briggs, Royal Thresher, Sylvanus Leonard, Daniel Ander- 
son, Perry M. Peckham, John Briggs. Females — Eleanor 
West, Hopestill Munro, Hannah Martin, Elizabeth Thresher, 
Lydia Clark, Mary Simmons, Mehitabel Clark, Priscilla 
Shaw, Frances Rathburn, Phebe Lincoln, Lydia French, Sarah 
Walker, Hannah Shroden, Deborah Luther, Laurana Brown, 
Sybil Thomson." * The first minister to administer the com- 
munion to the little flock was the Rev. Stephen S. Nelson, 
a brother of Dr. Nelson. 

James Manning Winchell, the first pastor, deserves more 
than a passing notice. His stay in Bristol was short, but he 
was a man of fine scholarship and unusual abilities as a 
preacher, and the church prospered greatly under his minis- 
trations. Mr. Winchell was a native of the town of North- 
east, Duchess County, New York. He graduated at Brown 
University in the class of 1812, and the Bristol church was 
his first pastoral charge. He had been in Bristol a little 
more than a year when he received an invitation to Ijecome 
the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Boston. This in- 
vitation he accepted, and removed to his new field of labor 
very shortly after. His life was a short one ; he died in Bos- 
ton, of consumption, Feb. 22, 1820. Before his death he had 
become famous as the editor of the standard edition of Watts' 
Hymns. He also published two discourses on the history of 
the First Baptist Church in Boston. Of him Rev. Dr. Rufus 
Babcock wrote as follows : "It seems to me that young Win- 
cheH's manner in the pulpit approached more nearly to that 
of Summerfield — that prodigy of youthful loveliness — than 
any other that I ever witnessed. There was the same winning 
simplicity and naturalness in the one as in the other. Win- 
chell's thoughts were clear, but not profound ; his arrange- 
ment was so natural and lucid that the attentive hearer could 
hardly fail to treasure much of his discourse in his memory." 

The " Stone Chapel " — so the church building was called 
for many years — was finished at a cost of about 87,000. The 

* Rev. Mr. Hubbard's Historical Discourse. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 



297 




The Baptist Church. 



Baptists of Bristol 
were too poor to 
bear all the ex- 
pense of its erec- 
tion, although the 
town, following tlie 
precedent it had 
established several 
years before in the 
case of the Method- 
ists, had granted 
them a portion of 
the Common as a 
site for the edifice. 
The needed funds 
were therefore pro- 
cured by means of 
a lottery, tlien the 
most common ex- 
pedient for raising money.* 

Dr. Nelson did not live to witness the completion of the 
" Stone Chapel." He died in 1814. a few weeks after the 
departure of Mr. Winchell. His loss was felt by his fellow- 
Baptists to be almost irreparable. H he had been living five 
years later the church might possibly have escaped the with- 
ering blight which then fastened itself upon it. In the month 
of May, 1814, the Rev. Barnabas Bates was chosen to suc- 
ceed Mr. Winchell. Mr. Bates was an Englishman (born 
1785), a remarkably able man. For four years tlie church 
prospered under his wise leadership. At his suggestion, the 

* The papers of that day are full of lottery advertisements, and every year 
several charters for lotteries were granted by the Rhode Island General Assembly. 
No one's moral sense was offended or shocked by them. The Congregational 
Church and St. Michael's Church had iiioi-e thiuionce replenished their exhausted 
purses in this way. The Methodist Church alone is free from the reproach that 
now is attached to such a course. This, however, was not due to an>' scruples 
on the part of the members of that society, but simi)ly because the cost of its 
church building was small and the money was easily raised by subscription, ('apt. 
James DeWolf, a member of St. Michael's Church, contributed nearly one-fourth 
of the money expended in its erection, and there were other large contributions 
from persons who were not Methodists. 



298 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

first Sunday School in tlie town was established, in the year 
1816. " In this enterprise, this church and the Congrega- 
tionalist Church in this town, appear to have been partially 
united. They each established a school about the same time, 
and once in so many weeks the two schools met together in 
concert, when the teachers from each gave in their reports, 
and the pastors of the two churches made such remarks and 
suggestions as seemed to be called for. This was the same 
year in which the first Sabbath School in this country was 
opened in the city of New York." * 

"But in the summer of 1818, Mr. Bates began to preach different doc- 
trines from tliose lield by the church, and from those which he had 
preached during the first four years of his ministry in Bristol. He began 
to express strong Unitarian sentiments, and to deny liatly and openly the 
divinity of Christ. He would not consent that the Article of Faith 
adopted by the church at its organization should be read in Church 
Meeting; nor that the Doxology should be sung at the close of worship. 
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, so dear and precious to the heart of 
every Evangelical Christian, was by him sneered at and ridiculed in the 
pulpit, and held up to view in the most odious light in which it could pos- 
sibly be presented." t 

The course of Mr. Bates at once divided the church into 
two rival factions, and very bitter quarrels ensued. The Bates 
party obtained possession of the church edifice, and continued 
to hold it for seven years, although their leader was mean- 
while deposed from the ministry. J Mr. Bates finally gave up 

* Rev. Mr. Hubbard's Historical Discourse. + Ibid. 

$The following vote, passed in Town Meeting', Aug. 31, 1824, is especially inter- 
esting in this connection. It shows what were the opinions of the great mass 
of the citizens upon the subject ; and also defines the tenure by which the lands oc- 
cupied by public and private buildings upon the Common are held : — 

" lT7iercas, The Freemen of this Town in their corporate capacity, are and always 
have been the agents and guardians of the Lands, etc., belonging to the Corpora- 
tion ; and whereas they have permitted buildings to be erected on the public 
square belonging to the Town, for the education of children, and for public 
worship. 

Resolved, That we do, and always have considered, any transfer of the property 
in said buildings or appurtenances, with intention to convert them to any other use 
than that originally intended and understood by the parties, at the time permission 
was given or granted for setting such building on said Town's Common land, a 
Violation of the Agreement and Right granted, and such right forfeited and an- 
nulled by the party owning, or pretending to own, such building or buildings. 

Resolved, That we consider any individual pretending to purchase or to hold in 
his own Right, or to have any control over any such building, as a violation of the 
right or permission to set said building on the Town Land, and any attempt to pull 
down or carry away said building, or any part thereof, or anything to the same 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 299 

preaching entirely, find devoted himself to secular pursuits. 
He was for a time the Collector of the Port of Bristol, but 
having become very unpopular was removed from his office. 
The fact that he was a zealous Free-Mason and that the Anti- 
Masonic feeling was very strong in the town may have had 
much to do with his unpopularity. He was afterwards con- 
nected for some years with the New York Post Office, and dur- 
ing that period devoted his fine abilities to bringing about a 
reduction in the postal rates of the United States. He pub- 
lished very many pamphlets concerning the matter of postal 
reform, and went about the country delivering lectures upon 
the subject. Tiirough his efforts a very great reduction in 
the rates of postage was made. By his admirers he was 
styled " the Father of Cheap Postage in the United States." 
He died at Boston in 1853. 

During the years when the Bates party held possession of 
the " Stone Chapel," the services of the church were held in 
the morning in the " Brick School House" and the " Acad- 
emy Hall ; " in the evening in private houses. All that time 
it was without a pastor, and consequently had no share, as a 
church, in the revival of 1820. When the chapel came again 
into the possession of its rightful owners, in 1825, the Rev. 
John Newton Brown, of Providence, became the pastor of 
the church. Mr. Brown remained in Bristol about a year, 
and removed hence to Maiden, Mass. He afterwards won 
distinction as the editorial secretary of the Baptist Publica- 
tion Society, the editor of the Cyclopaedia of Religious 
Knowledge, and of several denominational journals. 

After Mr. Brown's departure the church had no settled 
pastor for about four years. In 1829-30 the labors of Rev. 
Arthur A. Ross brought about a " Revival " which added 
twenty-two to its membership. In 1831-32 Enoch E. Chase 
was the pastor. Fernando Bestor served for six months from 
August, 1833. In 1835 several Baptist families settled in the 

belonging', or to convert to private use, or to any other use than that originally 
intended, of Teachina- in Religion, or Literature, will be by us considered a Trespass 
and Violation of our Rights as a Town ; all which Trespasses and Violations of our 
Rights we are determined to prevent, if in our power. Voted and Resolved that 
this order go into effect. Attest, Allen AVahdwell, Town Clerk." 



300 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

town, and in March, 1836, the church again felt itself able to 
call a pastor. For three years from that time it enjoyed tlie 
ministrations of the Rev. Zalmon Tobey, a graduate of Brown 
University, in the class of 1817. Mr. Tobey's pastorate was 
very successful. The Rev. William L. Brown succeeded him, 
remaining from September, 1839, until June, 1842. Rev. 
Edward Freeman served one year from August, 1842. "In 
January, 1844, the pastoral office was committed to Rev. 
James N. Sykes, * who filled it with ability and success until 
near the close of 1847." During his residence in Bristol Mr. 
Sykes distinguished himself by his efficient service upon the 
School Committee. He was one of the men most influential 
in tlie establishment of the High School. 

John F. Bigelow succeeded Mr. Sykes, remaining until 
1850. Joseph M. Graves (1850-2), J. N. Hobert (1852-5), 
Benjamin Carto (1855-6), Nathan A. Reed (1856-8), and 
Horace G. Hubbard (1859-63), followed. On the 22d of Au- 
gust, 1861, Mr. Hubbard delivered the Fiftieth Anniversary 
Historical Discourse, from whence very many quotations have 
been made in this chapter. It was published at the request 
of the church. Mr. Hubbard is a native of Champion, Jef- 
ferson County, N. Y. ; born August 17, 1829. His early life 
was spent on a farm. He graduated from the Theological 
Department of Madison University, New York, in 1858, and 
in 1874 received from that university the honorary degree of 
A. M. His first pastorate Avas Milford, Mass. From Milford 
he was called to Bristol. Since his departure from Bristol he 
has been settled at Chatham, Mass., Brentwood, East Wasli- 

* " This widely-known and esteemed Biiptist clergyman died in bis native place, 
Agawam, West Springfield, Mass., Sept. liT, 1.S80, aged tiT years. He graduated at 
Brown University in 1811, with Hon. S. G. Arnold, Prof. H. S. Frieze, and Merrick 
Lyon, LL. D., and Rev. Drs. Kendall Brooks and Franklin Wilson. His preaching, 
while a student, at Fruit Hill, North Providence, is still fondly remembered. His 
settlements in the ministry were at North Reading, Mass., Bristol, B. I., Chelsea, 
East Boston, and Newburyport, Mass., Plainsville and Lima, Ohio, and Greenville, 
Conn. Gifted with a clear, logical intellect, and moved by a warm Christian love, 
he became distinguished as a strong doctrinal preacher. His classical and theolog- 
ical culture stand revealed in the writings that he gave to the press. His virtues 
and his labors will be recalled in all the eommunites he served. Doubtless from 
overwork of mind he Anally fell asleep from cerebral disease. His name is justly 
held in honor. He married (1) Aug. 3. 1842, Caroline S. Anthony ; and (2) May 26, 
1857, Catharine P. Anthony, daughters of James Anthony, of Providence, R. I. He 
leaves four children."— rrovideucc Journal of Sept. 28, 1880. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 301 

ington, Meriden, and South Lyndeboro', N. IT. In the last 
town he is now living. 

Edward T. Hunt, John Blain, and Joseph J. Peck, followed 
Mr. Hubbard, and in 1869 the Rev. Howard Malcom Jones 
began the longest and most successful pastorate in the history 
of the church. Mr. Jones was born in Burmah. His father, 
John Taylor Jones, d. d., was a graduate of Amherst College 
(1825), and the first resident Protestant missionary in the 
kingdom of Siam. From 1830 to 1833, Dr. Jones was sta- 
tioned in Burmah. In 1833 he went to Siam. Mr. Jones 
graduated from Brown University, in the class of 1853, and 
from Xewton Theological Seminary in 1857. His pastorates 
have been as follows : Schoolcraft, Mich., 1858-59 ; Racine, 
Wis., 1859-62 ; Fredonia, N. Y., 1863-69 ; Bristol, R. I., 
1869-79. "When he came to this town in September, 1869, 
he found the church tower destroyed by the gale that had 
lately swept over the town, and the members of the church 
divided and disheartened. The house was soon put in repair, 
and after a longer period, spiritual prosperity dawned. An 
excellent parsonage was secured, chiefly through the energy 
of the late Mrs. Harriet B. Norris, and Mr. Jones had the 
happiness of leaving the church in every way stronger and 
more united than it had ever been before. His present cliarge 
is Shelburne Falls, Mass. 

The Rev. Henry Crocker, the present pastor, is a native of 
Brewster, Mass. He graduated from Brown University in 
1867, and from the Newton Theological Seminary in 1870. 
From October, 1870, to xVpril, 1879, he was settled in Dam- 
ariscotta, Me. In December, 1879, his pastorate in Bris- 
tol began. The deacons are John Lake and George U. 
Arnold. Charles H. Spooner is the treasurer, John Lake is 
the superintendent of the Sunday School, and L. L. Anders- 
trom, the clerk. It numbers about 130 members. The fact 
that the church maintained its existence for so many years, in 
the face of disasters that seemed irretrievable, shows how in- 
tense was the zeal that animated the breasts of its members, and 
how strong and unconquerable was their faith. After years of 
trouble, a prosperous future seems now to be allotted to it. 



Chapter xxxvii. 



THE YANKEE. 



When the act declaring war between the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland, and tlie United States of 
America, was passed, June 18, 1812, the port of Bristol was 
at tlie zenitli of its commercial prosperity. By the enter- 
prising merchants who were then guiding the destiny of the 
town, its commerce liad been extended to all parts of the 
globe, and its vessels had been sent to plow the waters of 
every sea. The declaration of war seemed to it the death- 
knell of its commerce, and loud were its denunciations of the 
course pursued by the majority in Congress. Before most 
of the merchants of that day, only visions of disaster and 
ruin arose, as they gloomily pondered over the future. Not 
so with James DeWolf. Not one doubt concerning the final 
success of the American cause seems to have entered into his 
mind. While he read the proclamation of President Madi- 
son, his heart was bounding with joy. From the hands of the 
English war-vessels, whose delight it was for years to harass 
the commerce of America, Mr. DeWolf had suffered heavy 
losses. Of these losses he had kept a most accurate account, 
and he had longed for the day of retaliation to come. The 
successful cruise of his father upon the " Prince Charles of 
Lorraine " was ever before his eyes, and the angry Potter 
blood was boiling in his veins. By the act of Congress, the 
President of the United States was authorized to issue com- 
missions, or letters of marque and reprisal, to private armed 



THE " YANKEE." 303 

vessels. The friends of Mr. DeWolf saw, through that 
clause, a possible way opened for retrieving their losses. It 
was the opportunity he had been eagerly anticipating, and he 
was ready to embrace it when it came. Some months before, 
he had found a vessel well adapted to his purposes, — a little 
brigantinc, built at Haddam, Conn., and on the thirtietli day 
of June, 1812, only eleven days after the President had issued 
his proclamation, he sent this letter to the Secretary of 
War : — 

" Bristol R I, 30tli June 1812 
" The Ilonorahle William Eustis, Secretary of War: — 

"Sir: I have purchased and now ready for sea, an armed Brig, (one 
of the most suitable in this country for a Privateer) of one hundred and 
sixty tons burthen, mounting eighteen guns, and carries one hundred 
and twenty men, called the Yankee, commanded by Oliver Wilson. 
Being desirous that she should be on her cruise as soon as possible, I 
beg you will cause a commission to be forwarded as soon as practicable 
to the Collector of the District, that this vessel may not be detained. 
" I am very respectfully, Sir, 

" Your obedient sei'vant, 

" James DeWolf." 

On the thirteenth day of July the commission of the 
'• Yankee " was issued. The officers named therein were 
Oliver Wilson, Captain ; Manly Sweet, James Usher, 2d, and 
Thomas H. Russel, Lieutenants. Mr. DeWolf was the owner 
of three-fourths of the vessel, John Smith was the owner of 
one quarter part. These were the articles of agreement under 
which the vessel sailed : — 

"ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 

BETWEEN THE OWNERS, OFFICERS AND COMPANY OF THE PRIVATE 
ARMED VESSEL OF WAR, YANKEE. 

" 1st- It is agreed by the parties that the Owners fit the Vessel for Sea 
and provide herwith Great Guns, small arms, powder, shot and all otlier 
warlike stores, also with suitable medicines and every other thing neces- 
sary for such a Vessel and her Cruise for all of which no deduction is to 
be made from the shares, for which the Owners or their substitutes shall 
receive or draw One Half the nett proceeds of all such Prizes or prize as 
shall be taken, and the other half shall be the property of the Vessel's 
Company to be divided in proportions as mentioned in the 15th article 
except the Cabin-stores and furuitui-e which belong to the Captain. 



30-1 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

" 2''- TJiat for preserving due decorum on board said Vessel, no man 
is to quit or go out of her on board any other vessel, or on shore without 
leave first ciljtained of the Commanding officer ou board under the 
penalty of such punishment or fine as shall be decreed by the Captain 
and Officers. 

" 3^1- That the Cruise shall be where the Owners or major part of them 

shall direct. 

"4th- If any person shall be found a ring-leader of any Mutiny or 
causing disturbance, or refuse to obey the Captain, or any Officer behave 
with Cowardice, or get drunk in time of action, he or they shall forfeit 
his or their shares of any dividend or be otherwise punished at the dis- 
cretion of the Captain and Officers. 

" 5ti'. If any person shall steal or convert to his own use any part of a 
prize or prizes or be found pilfering any money or other things belong- 
ing to this Vessel, her Officers or Company, and be thereof convicted by 
the Officers, he shall be punished and forfeit as aforesaid. 

•' 6"'- That whoever first spies a Prize or sail, that proves worth 100 
dollars per share, shall receive Fifty Dollars from the gross sum; and if 
orders are given for boarding, the first man on the deck of the Enemy, 
shall receive Half a share to be deducted from the gross sum of Prize 

money. . , 

" ^th. That if any one of the said Company shall in time of action lose 
an eye or a joint he shall receive Fifty Dollars, and if he lose a leg or an 
arm, he shall receive Three hundred Dollars to be deducted out of the 
cross sum of Prize money. 

"8«'- That if any of the said Company shall strike or assault any 
male prisoner or rudely treat any female prisoner he shall be punished 
or fined as the Officers shall decree. , .„ , . ., 

"9ti>. That if any of the said Company shall die or be killed in the 
voyage and any Prizes be taken before or during the action in which he 
is so killed his share or shares shall be paid to his legal representatives. 

" 10th. That whoever deserts the said Vessel, within the time herein- 
after mentioned, shall forfeit his Prize money to the Owners and Com- 
pany of the said Vessel, his debts to any person on board being first 
paid out of it, provided it does not amount to more than one half the 

^Tjith. That on the death of the Captain, the command to devolve on 
the next in command and so in rotation. 

" l'>th. That no one of said company shall sell any more than one halt 
of his share or right of claim thereto of any prize previous to her being 

' "lP>th. That the Captain and Officers shall appoint an agent of said 
Vessel's company for and during the term of said Cruise. 

" 14th. That all and every one of said Company do agree to serve on 
board of the said Vessel conformable to the terms herein mentioned for 
the term of Four Months beginning the said term at the time of her 
departure from harbour of Bristol. 

" 15th. That the One Half of the nett proceeds of all Prizes taken by 



THE " YANKEE." 305 

the said Vessel which is appropriated to the Vessel's company shall be 
divided among them in the following manner (viz) To the Captain 
sixteen Shares and all such privileges and freedoms as are alloAved to 
the Captains of Private armed vessels of war from this Port. 

" To the first Lieutenant nine shares. To the 2"ti & 3^ Lieutenants 
and Surgeon, Eight Shares each. Prize masters and Masters Mate and 
Captain of Marines six shares eacli; Carpenter, Boatswain, and Gunner 
four shares each. Boatswain's Mates two and one half shares each. 
The residue to be divided among tlie Company in equal shares excepting 
Landsmen or raw hands who draw one and one-half shares each, and 
Boys who draw one share each. Ten shares to be reserved to the order 
of the Captain to be distributed by him to such as he may deem de- 
serving among the Vessels Company." 

To give a detailed account of the wonderful career of the 
" Yankee," and tlie daring exploits of her officers and crew, 
would require many more chapters than the limit assigned to 
the numher of pages in this book will allow. Only a few of 
the most prominent points in her history can be mentioned. 
The author, however, deems the subject so important, that from 
the abundant material now at his command he proposes some- 
time to publish a full account of the career of the " Yankee," 
and of the other privateers that sailed out from this port 
during the last war with Great Britain. In that work will 
be given an extended account of the events that can only be 
touched upon here. 

Before she had been a fortnight at sea the " Yankee " had 
tapped the vein that was for three years to inundate Bristol 
with its golden stream. In her first cruise of less than three 
months she captured ten prizes, took or destroyed nearly half 
a million dollars' worth of property, and paid for lierself over 
and over again. Not always without resistance were the 
prizes taken, as this account of her fight with the " Royal 
Bounty" (from Coggeshall's American Privateers^ sliows : — 

" On the first of August, 1812, the Yankee was cruising off the coast 
of Nova Scotia. At noon she saw a large ship on the lee bow, four miles 
distant; made all sail and prepared for action. The Privateer, being to 
windward, ran down on Royal Bounty's weather quarter and gave her 
the first division; soon, as she doubled on the enemy, the whole broad- 
side. The ship returned the compliment, and the action continued with 
spirit on both sides. The two vessels being near, the Yankee's marines 
kept up a continual fire, very destructive to the Royal Bounty. The 
20 



306 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Yankee's shot cut lier sails and ngsi"» ^^ pieces and killed her helms- 
man. A few moments after, the ship became unmanajreable. The Yan- 
kee then ran off a short distance and luffed to, athwart the bows of the 
Royal Bounty, gave a raking broadside, and at the same time poured in 
a constant shower of musketry which soon compelled the enemy to 
strike her colors. The ship proved to be the Royal Bounty, Captain 
Henry Gambles. She was a fine ship of 658 tons, mounting 10 guns, 
carrying 2.5 men, from Hull in ballast, seven weeks out for Prince Ed- 
ward's Island. The Privateer took out the prisoners and manned the 
prize for the United States. The Yankee had three wounded and her 
sails and rigging somewhat damaged. The Royal Bounty had two men 
killed, the Captain and six officers and seamen wounded. The action 
lasted one hour. The ship was terribly cut up in sails and rigging and 
all its boats were stove. More than one hundred and fifty shots passed 
through the sails or lodged in the hull and spars. The wounded pris- 
oners were carefully attended by the Yankee's surgeon." 

If ever a vessel was " lucky," this little hermaphrodite brig 
was that vessel. One of her first prizes was the ship " Fran- 
cis." Her cargo alone could be confiscated, but it netted 
over $200,000 to her startled captors. Every share in that 
first cruise brought more than seven hundred dollars to its 
owner. No wonder that the sailors who thronged the streets 
of Bristol fought for a place upon her decks, and that the 
middle of October saw her sailing away on a second cruise. 
Oliver Wilson again commanded the vessel. The lieutenants 
were Seth Barton, John H. Vinson, and Thomas Jones. Cap- 
tain Wilson's instructions were, to scour the west coast of 
Africa, and come home in the track of vessels sailing to 
Europe from Brazil and the West Indies. After a cruise of 
one hundred and fifty days the "Yankee" came leisurely into 
the harbor ; but not alone. On one side was a fine brig of 
about 210 tons, — the " Shannon." * She was laden with cot- 
ton, and with her cargo sold for |)67,521. The letter-of- 
marque schooner "Alder" sailed on the other side. She was 
a copper-bottomed vessel of great speed, and had been a 

* When the cargo of the " Shannon " was sold, Captain DeWolf found that his 
losses, received at the hands of British cruisers, had been entirelj' made up from 
the sales of the prizes captured by the " Yankee." According-lj', when the " Shan- 
non " was ag'ain ready for sea, he rechristened the vessel, and gave it the name of 
the "Balance." The next vessel sent in was renamed the " Prize," and the next, 
the " Kemittance." 



THE " YANKEE." 807 

French privateer before she Avas captured by the English. 
Neither vessel nor cargo were very valuable. She had been 
sent in by Captain Wilson for possible use as a privateer. 
Six other prizes had also been taken. Two of them had been 
destroyed. One only had been recaptured. This was the 
" Fly," of London, a new and handsome brig. She was cut 
out from under the guns of a fort that mounted fifty pieces of 
artillery, by the " Yankee's " boat. But though this prize was 
recaptured by the British, the 800 ounces of gold that had 
been found in its cabin came home in the Bristol privateer. 
The value of each share in the second cruise was $338.40. 

The space of two months sufficed to make the necessary re- 
pairs, and on the lOtli of May, 1813, the vessel was again 
commissioned. May 20th she sailed from Newport. Elisha 
Snow was her commander ; Thomas Jones, Samuel Barton, 
and George A. Bruce, were his lieutenants. In company with 
the " Yankee," sailed for a time the " Blockade," a privateer, 
owned also by James DeWolf and John Smith. Manly Sweet, 
the first lieutenant of the " Yankee " in her first cruise, com- 
manded the second vessel. Aug. 20, 1813, Captain Snow 
had captured the number of prizes sufficient to " make up a 
handsome cruise, calculating one-half the prizes to be re- 
taken," and was back again in Bristol. The snow, " Thames," 
a vessel of 312 tons, carrying 2,087 bales of cotton, and 
valued with her cargo at $110,000, was the most important 
result of the cruise. Amount of prize-money apportioned to 
each share, ti^l73.54. 

Thomas Jones was the fourth captain. His lieutenants 
were Thomas Milton, George Eddy, and Sampson Gullifer. 
" One hundred and nine souls (some small) " composed the 
crew, as Golden Dearth, the clerk, attested. Sept. 10, 1813, 
the voyage began. The " track of the homeward-bound 
vessels near the Grand Banks," was tiie principal cruising 
ground specified in the sailing orders. The prizes were di- 
rected to " make for Nantucket Shoals, and get into the first 
port on the Vincj^ard (i. e., the Vineyard Sound), avoiding 
Boston." The fourth cruise was a failure. Only two small 



308 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

vessels — the schooner "Katie" and the brig "Marquis of 
Huntley " — were sent into port. The former paid $12.59 to 
each share ; the latter, !|4.70. 

The next cruise saw Elisha Snow again in charge of the 
brigantine. Thomas Jones was " Second Captain," Samuel 
Barton, John Smith, and Francis Elliot were lieutenants. 
Four prizes were taken. Three of them were small vessels 
that brought no money to their captors. The " Yankee " was 
driven into New Bedford by an English man-of-war. Her 
capture seemed inevitable, and her crew deserted almost to a 
man But : — one of the prizes reached Portland in safety, and 
that prize was the " San Jose Indiano." The gross receipts 
from the sale of that vessel and cargo amounted to more 
than half a million dollars. The owners received $223,- 
313.10 as their share of the net profits of the fifth cruise. 
Not one of the boys in the crew of tlie privateer received 
less than $700 from the voyage ; the negro waiters m the 
cabin— Cuffee Cockroach and Jack Jibsheet were their 
names -received, the one $1,121.88, the other $738.19 ; to 
Captain Snow was paid $^15,789.69. 

On the first dav of October, 1814, were issued the sailing 
orders for the sixth and last cruise. A new set of officers 
walked the decks of the privateer. They were William 
C Jenckes, Commander ; Benjamin K. Churchill, Second 
in Command ; A. B. Hetherington, Henry Wardwell, and 
Samuel Grafton, Lieutenants. In the private instructions 
issued to Captain Jenckes special attention was paid to the 
definition of "neutral" property. Two years before the 
people of Great Britain had sneered at the American ^avy 
as something entirely unworthy of notice. Bitter experience 
had shown them their error. In many engagements the war- 
ships of the United States had fought witli English men-of- 
war and compelled them to strike their colors ; the little 
American privateers that swarmed about the path of British 
commerce had forced the merchants of England to conceal 
their property under neutral flags. The " Yankee's " captain 
was advised to send in a " neutral " if he fired upon him 



THE " YANKEE." 309 

(" as was once the case with the ' Yankee'"), or if he liad 
destroyed any papers. He was instructed, that " if any one 
of a House sliipping property resides in England, or in an 
English colony, that share of the shipment is good prize of 
war. Notwithstanding he may liave been born a neutral, and 
lived in a neutral country all his life; if he is now domiciled 
in the enemy's country, it is sufficient to condemn his prop- 
erty.'' In the sentence : "You must depend principally upon 
the goods you take on board to make your cruise, as the 
prizes you man will be very uncertain," one sees the pith of 
the letter of instruction. The prizes made during the cruise 
of 105 days are named in a letter from B. K. Churchill, the 
second captain, dated Beaufort, N. C, Jan. 21, 1815. " We 
have captured five prizes, viz. : the brig ' Lady Provost,' 
brig ' Courtney,' ship ' St. Andrews,' ship *• General Welles- 
ley,' and a schooner from Bermuda with flour. We also took 
a brig with jerked beef, which we gave up to the prisoners. 
I am sorry to say that we have no goods on board except 
$1,000 in cash and a small case of jewelry. Tiie' Yankee' 
is very much in want of repairs." Captain Churchill's let- 
ter concludes as follows : — 

" P. S. I have lost one of my legs this cruise." 

Of these last prizes only the " Courtney " brought much 
money to the owners and crew of the privateer. She was 
carried safely into New Bedford, and sold with her cargo for 
about seventy thousand dollars. The " General Wellesley" 
was an East India ship of 600 tons. She was built, in the 
strongest manner possible, of teak wood, carried sixteen 
guns, and was manned by a crew of eighty-six. She was 
bound from London to Calcutta, had separated from her con- 
voy, and was taken by the " Yankee " after a running fight. 
Her estimated value was $200,000. James M. Blinn was 
placed on board as prize-master, with orders to take her into 
Charleston, S. C. The sixty-two Lascars who formed a part 
of her original crew were left on board the prize. The 
"Wellesley " grounded on Charleston bar when she had almost 
reached her destination, a strong gale came up very shortly 



310 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

afterwards, and she became a complete wreck. Two of the 
prize crew and fifty-two Lascars were lost with lier. Thus 
fickle fortune, who had befriended tlie " Yankee " during all 
the years of the war, frowned upon her as the close of the 
contest came. Feb. 17, 1815, the Treaty of Ghent was rati- 
fied at Washington, and the mission of the privateers was 
ended. May 2, 1815, the little brigantine was once more 
lying at anchor in the harbor of Bristol. The implements of 
war were upon her decks, but the ten men who had shipped 
at Beaufort as her crew were " governed by the Rules and 
Regulations of the merchant service." Less than three 
years had passed away from the time when she had received 
her commission as a private armed vessel of war. In those 
three years she had taken more prizes than any other 
American privateer ever captured, she had destroyed British 
property amounting in value to almost a million of pounds, 
and she had sent into Bristol a round million of dollars as 
the profit from her six cruises. 



Chapter xxxviii. 



THE OTHER PRIVATEERS. 

When we examine the history of the other privateers 
which sailed from Bristol, the wonderful fortune of the " Yan- 
kee " is very plainly evident. They were six in number : the 
" Hiram," the " Blockade," the " Macdonough," the " Water 
Witch," the " Yankee Lass," and the " Rambler." To this 
list the " Brutus," the " Saranac," and the " Curlew " should 
possibly be added ; though the papers concerning them can- 
not now be found. Only one of these vessels, the " Water 
Witch," sent any prizes into port. The "Water Witch "was 
a little schooner employed in freighting goods between Bris- 
tol and Xew York. Like all the vessels then employed in 
running the blockade which the British cruisers had estab- 
lished, she was a very fine sailer. On this account her own- 
ers (James DeWolf and John Smith) procured for her a 
privateer's license, that she might capture the small coasters 
engaged in furnishing the English fleet with supplies. Her 
one prize, a flour-laden schooner called the" Cynthia," netted 
a profit of about f 5,000. Of this amount, four-fifths was 
placed to the credit of the owners. The remainder was 
divided among the sixty shares held by the officers and crew. 

A short and tragic career was that of the " Hiram." The 
presence of the ship " Francis " in the harbor stimulated 
many of the Bristol merchants to embark in the business of 
privateering, and the " Hiram " was the second private 
armed vessel sent out from the port. She was of sixty tons 



312 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

burden, had been built for service as a pilot-boat in the Vine- 
yard Sound, was staunch and strong, and sailed remarkably 
well. She was owned by a stock company, of which Nathan 
Bardin held the controlling interest. Most of her officers 
also held shares in the stock. Mr. Bardin was the aaent. 
James Wilson, an Englishman who had married and settled 
in Bristol, was her captain ; among her officers Avere Nathan 
Gardner, William West, and Henry B. Bliven, all of Bristol. 
Her crew numbered fifty. Twenty days from the date of her 
purchase the " Hiram " was ready for sea. She sailed Aug. 
3, 1812, intending to make a cruise of four months. For two 
months nothing whatever was heard from her, but on the 
lOtli of October this letter appeared in the Colutnbian Phenix, 
a paper published at Providence. 

[From the Columbian Phenix or (lie Providence Patriot, Oct. 10, 1812.] 

"LOSS OF THE HIRAM OF f.O TONS, 3 GUNS AND FIFTY MEN." 

[Extract of a Letter from Mr. John B. Dirker, to the Editor of the Neio London 
Gazette, dated at St. Parts, Sept. 12, 1812.] 

" I received the following accovmt of the loss of the Privateer Schooner 
Hiram of Bristol E. I. James Wilson, Commander, from the Carpenter. 

" On the 19 '' of August 1812, at 2 v. u. Lat. 19 n., being at the foretop, 
heard a pistol go off; soon after she blew up, carrying everything on 
the quarter deck, together with the cabin furniture into the air; I then 
came down and assisted in clearing away the boat, in order to save 
some of our lives, as the schooner was sinking. After we got the boat 
out, she was upset several times — so many getting into her. The 
boatswain however persuaded them to quit the boat, by telling them 
that he would make a raft, which he attempted but found it impossible. 
At length we got our boat ready, and six of us got into her, viz: Samuel 
CoUman, carpenter, Robert Robinson, boatswain, Samuel Biown, seaman, 
Charles Prince, seaman, (the two latter were colored), and Harry, a 
mulatto boy. who was so much bvirned and wounded, that he died in 
about two hours after leaving the wreck. We cut two pieces out of his 
thighs, (which we dried in the sun and committed the body to the 
waves) on which we subsisted, without any fresh water, for four days 
and a half. 

"Before we left the unfortunate spot, we looked for an officer to 
assist us to navigate our boat, but not finding any we put up a prayer 
to God to carry us to some of the Islands; after this we rowed to the 
south all night, and made a small sail out of a case of a mattress, and 
run down before the wind, and on the 24'*^ of August we saw the laud; 
we then pulled to the windward, until daylight, and finding it not safe 



THE OTHER PRIVATEERS. 313 

to land on that part of the Island, we rowed I'ound to leeward. At 2 
p. M. we lauded on Barbuda, being all able to walk except Brown; him 
the inhabitants carried with us to the Governor, John James, Esq., who 
treated us in the most humane and tender manner, giving us every 
assistance in his power. After remaining there four days, we were sent 
to Antigua, where the American Consul treated us very ill, and the 
boatswain and myself begged a passage on a schooner bound to St. Barts, 
where we arrived on the Gth of September and received all the assist- 
ance we needed from the benevolent Captain William E. Noyes, whose 
kindness we shall never forget." 

Beyond the facts contained in this letter, nothing was ever 
learned concerning the fate of the " Hiram." A few days be- 
fore the privateer sailed, the ship "Rebecca," Henry Nimmo, 
Master, arrived in Warren, from one of the southern ports. 
"Among her crew were five rough-looking Englishmen, who 
shipped to come North, with the avowed intention of joining 
the privateer service, and preying upon the property and lives 
of their own countrymen. Learning that the 'Hiram' was 
about ready for sea, they shipped on board, thus completing her 
complement." Popular conjecture for a long time associated 
the presence of these seamen on board with the destruction of 
the vessel. 

The " Rambler " was a brig of 200 tons ; Captain Appleby 
washer commander. She was a " Guiiicaman," and her priva- 
teer's license was taken out as a possible aid to her voyage, 
but was not the main cause of it. A writer in the Newport 
Mercury has summed up her career as follows : " She took a 
number of vessels, among them the ship ' Union,' from Jamaica, 
with coffee; which prize was retaken by the 'Curlew,' and 
was subsequently lost. The ' Rambler ' also drove a twenty- 
guu ship ashore on the coast of Africa. She was subse- 
quently chased by an English frigate, and having lost her 
main-top-gallant-mast, was overtaken and captured, — a thing 
which would not have occurred but for the above accident, 
for she was a superior sailer." 

The schooner " Blockade " and the brig " Macdonough " 
l)elonged to the owners of the '^ Yankee." The former sailed 
from Bristol on a four months' cruise Nov. 19, 1812. For a 
while she sailed in company with the " Yankee," but seems to 



314 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

have derived no profit from the arrangement. She made 
some dozen or more captures, but all of her prizes were re- 
taken, and she brought only a bill of expenses back when 
she came again into the harbor. Her log-book, still preserved, 
presents a faithful picture of a privateersman's life. Judged 
by the standard of to-day, it does not seem to have been a 
very enjoyable one. The officers who signed the paper con- 
ferring a power of attorney upon the owners, were Manly 
Sweet, Captain ; and Benjamin Bowen, Paul Florence, John 
French, Jr., Stephen Simmons, Moses Deane, John Carpenter, 
George Phillips, and Obed B. Hussey. Tlie •' Blockade " was 
lost at sea during her second cruise ; only three of those wlio 
sailed forth in her ever came back. 

The " Macdonough " v;as the largest, fastest, and best of 
the Bristol privateers. In one thing only was she inferior to 
the "Yankee," but that was in a very essential point, — suc- 
cess. She was built in Warren during the last year of the war, 
by Capt. Caleb Carr. Her model was so admirable that it 
secured for her builder an order for a war-vessel from the 
United States Government. Her sailing powers were mar- 
velous. She was employed as a merchant vessel after the 
war, and once made the voyage from Havana to Bristol in 
sis days, though for one whole day she was lying becalmed. 
Oliver Wilson was her captain. She made one cruise only, 
and eifected very many captures, but she had entered the 
contest too late. All of her prizes were retaken, and she 
came back empty-handed. This is the story told in her 
" log-book " of one of her encounters. 

Jan. 31, 181.5. At 12 M. discovered a large ship under our lee, making 
signals, about two leagues distant, showing two tiers of ports. At 1 p. 
M. edged down for her, and discovered her lower battery to be false ; 
immediately prepared for action. At 2 o'clock bore up for his weather 
quarter and hoisted our colors, the enemy at the same time hauling up 
his courses and lying by for us. At half past two commenced action 
within musket shot, observing the enemy to fire seven guns from his 
broadside, besides swivels, with a tremendous shower of musketry; 
which led us to suppose her to be a troop ship, in which we were not 
mistaken. At half past three passed close under her bows to rake her, 
when we discovered her decks full of soldiers, who gave us a tremen- 



THE OTHER PRI7ATEERS. 315 

dous volley. At three-quarters past 3, our braces, bowlines, and 
haulyards being all shot away, our sails literally cut to pieces, rigging 
much damaged, and two guns dismounted — eleven men wounded, 
seven severely, seven shot in our hull, our fore and mainmasts badly 
wounded, our stern boat had two 18-pound shot through her, the 
enemy being far superior to us in point of metal, having eighteen 9 
pounders and at least 300 soldiers besides her creAv,— thought prudent 
to haul off. Our enemy, having suffered considerably to appearance, 
bore away for Teneriffe with some of her people slung over her side, 
stopping shot holes. At 3 A. M. tacked ship to southwest, all hands be- 
ing employed in repairing sails, rigging, gun carriages, and other 
damages." 

The " Macdonoiigh " arrived at Savannah Marcli 7, 1815. She 
was at last sold in Cuba, to parties who fitted her out as 
a slaver. Being chased one day by a man-of-war when she 
had a cargo of slaves on board, she ran for shelter into the 
harbor of Matanzas, struck upon a reef, and very soon went 
to pieces. Her crew were saved, but her human freight was 
lost. 

The " Yankee Lass " made but one cruise, sailing in the early 
part of April, 1814. A gallant officer commanded her, Capt, 
Benjamin K, Churchill ; her first lieutenant was Seth Barton ; 
one of the bravest men that ever sailed from the port, but she 
was not successful. She was a small vessel, and carried 
about eighty men. On her return from her first and last 
cruise, her commander was transferred to the deck of the 
" Yankee," as second captain. 



Chapter xxxix. 



THE SEPTEMBER GALES OF 1815 AND 1S69. 

When the sun went down, on the 22d of September, 1815, 
the wharves of Bristol were once more lined with merchant 
vessels, as they had been three years before, in the days 
which preceded the reign of the war-ships. The crowds of 
sailors, that for months had lounged listlessly about, had 
again found employment. Energy and activity seemed to 
pervade the air. For nearly a week a light wind from the 
northeast had been blowing, and several vessels were almost 
ready to avail themselves of its aid. One, the brig " Rich- 
ard," was lying at her wharf with her crew on board, pre- 
pared to sail on the morrow. At about 2 o'clock on the 
morning of Sept. 23d, the wind began to increase, and 
was shortly blowing very heavily. When the dusk was 
changed to daylight, and the ebb tide was just turning to 
flood, the strong air current from the northeast was met by 
another, equally strong, from the southwest. The two com- 
bined to produce a tremendous gale, and the exultant tem- 
pest, driving the great waves before it, came roaring up the 
bay, and burst with irresistible force upon the town. 

Almost instantly the work of destruction began. The 
post office was then kept in a building which stood, partly 
over the water and partly upon the land, near the head of 
the Rubber Works wharf. Fierce Tritons in terrible sport 
lifted the building from the piles that supported its western 
side and dashed it instantly to pieces. Those who happened to 



THE SEPTEMBER GALESo 



317 




Residence of Mr. William T. C. Wardwell. 



be in the building barely escaped with their lives. Mr. Da- 
vid A. Leonard, the postmaster, lost all his books and papers, 
and 1600 in money besides. Upon the Long wharf Mr. Jacob 
Babbitt had built a row of brick warehouses. They were 
almost filled with merchandise when the storm began. From 
tlie centre to the west end they wore entirely overthrown; 
more than $40,000 worth of sugar was destroyed, and the 
greater part of the goods they contained was scattered along 
the shores of the harl)or, when the gale subsided. In a 
building which stood at the head of Wardwell's wharf, lay 
the corpse of a woman who had died during the night. For 
her dead body her husband and friends engaged in dreadful 
contest with the demons of the tempest. Out of the house 



318 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

and across the street they bore her, while tlie surging waves 
were dashing waist deep about them. The sea, disappointed 
in its prey, broke through the walls of the house, then turned 
in its rage and swallowed up the lower part of Thames Street 
for the length of more than two squares. The air was filled 
with great timbers which the wind had caught up and sent 
whirling about like feathers, and kite-like flew the boards be- 
fore the gusts. The crash of falling trees was heard on every 
side. 

Those who looked upon the harbor saw great sheets of 
water lifted from the crests of the ])illows, and the sail-boats 
and small coasters hurled northward with such velocity that 
the eye could hardly follow them. Nor were the larger 
vessels safe. Very quickly, Captain Swan, of the "Richard," 
saw that his only safety lay in yielding to the power of the 
storm. He stationed his crew at their posts, raised the jib a 
little to give his vessel steerage way, placed his most careful 
hand at the wheel, and with the speed of thought went flying 
toward the head of the harbor. Then, as now, a causeway 
separated the mill-pond from the outer water, but right over 
the feeble barrier the " Richard " went, carrying away a part 
of the old wind-mill in her course, and was soon sent far up 
upon the meadow at the head of the pond. Not a man was 
hurt on board of her ; the brig itself was but slightly injured, 
yet it cost more than her value to launch her again in the 
deep waters of the bay. The beautiful " Macdonough " had 
doffed the garb of war, and was lying at anchor in the liar- 
bor, until a cargo for the West Indies should be secured for 
her. She was forced from her moorings, and driven ashore 
upon Poppasquash, not far from the house of the late Robert 
Rogers. Her evil genius saved her from injury in the harbor 
of Bristol, for a slaver's ignominious end upon a Cuban reef. 

The brig " Juno," a vessel of 160 tons, snapped her detaining 
cables, and started upon a career of destruction. Across 
James DeWolf's wharf she was driven, knocking to pieces one 
of its buildings on her way, and setting the little brig " Toad 
Fish" adrift ; then over the wharf next north, and against 



THE SEPTEMBER GALES. 319 

a fine brig that Avas waiting for a cargo from WardwcU's dis- 
tillery, at what is now the wharf of the Namquit Mill. The 
victim was fresh from the ways, her keel had never leaped upon 
the waters of the ocean ; unprepared for such rough usage, 
she sank without a struggle where the "Juno" had struck 
her. Near her the " Juno's " own course was stayed, while her 
cargo was tossed about from billow to billow.* Upon that 
same wharf the little "Toad Fish" and a good-sized sloop 
were left by the retiring waves a few hours afterward. Two 
and three hundred feet upward into many of the cross streets, 
more than one vessel was forced, sometimes with cargo on 
board, and one large sloop, the " Elamsville," a North River 
packet, was driven into the orchard of Samuel W. Church. 
More than twenty vessels were in the harbor, and only one 
rode out the gale. 

Five men started to go to the relief of a vessel breaking to 
pieces upon Poppasquash. The heart of one failed him before 
he had accomplished half his journey, and he sought safety in 
a house which stood upon Shipyard Point. His companions, 
William Harding, Jr., John Reed, and Josiah Reed, his 
brother, and Henry Bosworth, went onward to die. To the 
stout bars of a gateway, through which the sea was surging, 
they clung for a time, with the strength despair gives to 
drowning fingers, but, one by one, the waves beat them off, 
and threw their corpses far up upon the meadows. 

At noon the violence of the wind began to subside ; at 2 
o'clock, in the afternoon, the storm was over ; at sunset hardly 
a breath of wind ruffled the waters, so quickly did Nature re- 
pent her of her terrible wrath. That night the sloop " Cos- 
mopolite " came in from the West Indies ; she had had a pros- 
perous voyage, and no gale had hindered her course. 

The next day was Sunday. Quietly and peacefully it 
dawned, but the Sabbath stillness chilled the hearts of the 

* The next day the owner of the " Juno's " cargo went along- the shores of the 
harbor with a paint-hrush, carefully niarkinj? all of the wreckage that was, pre- 
sumably, his. Some ^vags, who had observed him at his work, followed in his 
path not long afterward, and placed a very conspicuous JUNO upon the dead 
body of a horse that was lying upon the beach. 



320 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

people. A dreadful awe fell upon them when the bells began 
to toll, and the bodies of the drowned men were borne to the 
Congregational Meeting House in Bradford Street, for their 
funeral rites. Never did words from that pulpit fall upon 
more attentive ears. With the terrible proofs of God's might 
before their eyes, the warnings from a minister of God could 
not be disregarded. 

Not for many montlis and years were the marks of tlie 
gale obliterated. The papers of that day place the value of 
the goods destroyed at $150,000. It must surely have reached 
$100,000, — a very much larger sum then, than it is now, be 
it remembered. All the sliores were covered with fragments 
of the wrecks ; all the streets were blocked by the trunks of 
the fallen trees. But the energy of the people quickly raised 
the town out from the midst of destruction ; its commerce 
was checked for a short time only ; its wharves were soon re- 
paired ; another year saw them again loaded with merchan- 
dise ; the lost vessels were speedily replaced. 

A. little more than half a century afterward, on the 18th 
of September, 1869, came that other gale of which the recol- 
lections are yet so fresh. Of the first no extended account 
was ever written ; of the second, the careful attention of the 
editor of the Bristol Phenix has preserved a very accurate 
record. From the account printed in the Phenix, the infor- 
mation given in this chapter is mainly derived. Very differ- 
ently sound the stories of the destruction wrought at the 
different times. The little sea-port of 1815, with its less tlian 
three thousand inhabitants, had grown into a thriving manu- 
facturing town of almost twice tliat number. The damage 
to the shipping interests, which made up so large a part of the 
losses of 1815, figures but little in the accounts of 1869. 
The first gale was far more severe than the second and tlie 
losses were proportionally much greater. 

The second gale began on the afternoon of Wednesday. 
The morning was pleasant, with a strong breeze from the 
southeast. The wind continued to increase in violence until 
about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when it culminated in a 



THE SEPTEMBER GALES. 321 

complete hurricane, lasting about two hours, and sweeping 
everything before it. As in the first gale, almost every sail- 
boat in the harbor was either driven ashore, dashed in pieces, 
or sunk. Of the half-dozen or more vessels in the harbor, 
none were seriously damaged ; some of them were driven 
ashore, but most of them were launched again without very 
great expense. The damage to property was about the same 
as in 1815. One hundred and sixty-seven shade-trees Avere 
blown down. No lives were lost, and but few persons were 
injured. At the National Rubber Company's works, both of 
the large chimneys were blown down, and the walls of several 
brick buildings very badly injured. A part of the roof of the 
Sugar Refinery was blown off, and the building considerably 
damaged. The lower cotton mill also lost a portion of its 
roof, and was otherwise injured. The basement machinery of 
both mills was damaged by water. The steam saw and plan- 
ing mill of the late Capt. Joseph L. Gardner, which has since 
been destroyed by fire, was unroofed and partly blown down. 
The Roman Catholic Church was started from its foundation, 
but otherwise suffered no harm ; the steeple of the Baptist 
Church was blown down, and the Memorial Chapel of the 
Congregational Church was partly unroofed. Several fi-ame 
houses were entirely demolished ; these were newly-built 
dwellings, of a style very unlike those that withstood the gale 
of 1815. The track of the railroad across the Bridge flats 
was almost entirely washed away, and between Bristol and 
Providence hardly a bridge was left in its place. All the 
wharves of the town were more or less damaged, but the tide 
did not rise as hiirh as durina- the first gale. 



21 



Chapter xl. 



JAMES DeWOLF. 

The career of James DeWolf furnishes one of the best ex- 
amples of the infinite possibilities for individual advancement 
which our republican system of government affords* None 
of the advantages of wealth or station were his in his youth, 
yet his brilliant abilities made him a Senator of the United 
States, and secured for him one of the largest fortunes of 
which the country could boast. The story of his life, if told 
in detail, would read like one of the wildest chapters of a 
romance. 

Mark Anthony DeWolf, the father, was an humble sailor, 
whom the sudden fancy of Simeon Potter rescued from a life 
of obscurity upon the island of Guadaloupe, that his children 
might rise to wealth and influence in America. Mr. DeWolf 
married a sister of Captain Potter, became the master of one 
of his brother-in-law's vessels, settled in Bristol long before 
the Revolution, and there ended his life. More than a very 
modest income he never possessed in his most prosperous days, 
and as the size of his family increased, his ability to support 
it proportionally diminished. His children enjoyed only the 
limited opportunities for education presented by the village 
schools of a century ago, and poverty compelled his sons to 
take up their father's calling before their school-days were half 
completed. But all who reached mature age became mer- 
chant captains ; nearly all of them attained the possession of 
large wealth, and made themselves men of mark in the town 
and State. 

James DeWolf was born in Bristol, March 18, 1764. Dur- 



JAMES DeWOLF. 323 

ing the Revolutionary War, when he was only a lad, he left 
his home and shipped as a sailor boy upon a private armed ves- 
sel. Twice in his boyhood he was exposed to the dangers of 
naval battle, and twice he was captured by the enemy. For 
many weeks he was detained a prisoner upon the Bermuda 
Inlands. His zeal and activity quickly brought him into notice ; 
his manifest ability won for him speedy promotion. When the 
war was ended he entered the employ of John Brown, of 
Providence, and was made the master of a vessel ere he had 
passed out of his teens. His earliest voyages as captain were 
made to the coast of Africa in the slave trade. This now 
abhorred traffic was then esteemed perfectly reputable and 
legitimate ; the most enlightened nations did not hesitate to 
engage in it ; its morality and propriety were questioned by 
no one. 

Every business in which Captain DeWolf engaged brought 
wealth into his coffers ; the wonderful gift of grateful Bac- 
chus seemed to have been bestowed upon him ; Midas-like he 
changed everything into gold by his magic touch. Before he 
was twenty-five years old he had amassed a fortune and might 
have retired from business, but a life of idleness had for him 
no charms. His active brain was continually devising new 
enterprises, and he was ever ready to stake all that he pos- 
sessed, to compass the attainment of more brilliant hopes. 
Thus, while his fellow-merchants were cautiously weighing the 
possible chances of success in ventures in untried fields, he 
was accustomed to rush boldly in, sweep away the rich prizes 
that so often await a pioneer, and leave for those who fol- 
lowed him only the moderate gains that ordinary business 
affords. 

No one seconded more heartily the measures which brought 
about the war of 1812, than Mr. DeWolf. How extensive 
were his investments in privateers the reader has already 
learned. But not for personal reasons only did he rejoice at 
the commencement of hostilities. He was convinced that the 
interests of the whole country demanded it, and he believed 
most thoroughly in the justice of the American cause. All 
his sympathies were enlisted in it ; all that he possessed he 



324 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

confidently staked upon the final issue of the conflict. Not 
only did he cause the banks in which he owned a controlling 
interest to invest their available capital in United States 
bonds, but when the credit of the Nation was lowest, and it 
found much difficulty in raising money, he advanced the 
needed funds from his own fortune. The remarkable speed 
of the privateer " Macdonough" having directed public at- 
tention to her builder, a sloop of war, the " Chippewa," was 
ordered to be constructed in his ship-yard. Accordingly, Com- 
modore 0. H. Perry, as agent for the United States Govern- 
ment, contracted with Capt. Caleb Carr, of Warren, to build 
the ship within ninety days. " On March 15, 1814, only fifty- 
seven days from the time her keel was laid, although there 
had been many stormy and snowy days, this ship of 411 tons 
burthen, and carrying sixteen guns, was delivered to the Com- 
modore, ready for her rigging and armament ; and in a few 
days afterwards she went to sea, completely armed and 
rigged."* The money for the construction and equipment of 
this vessel was advanced by Mr. DeWolf from his own private 
purse. 

When to most observers the shipping business was still the 
most important in the United States, he had foreseen the great 
strides the country would soon take in population, wealth and 
refinement, and the immense preponderance which manufac- 
tures were destined to attain. So, in the year 1812 he built, in 
the town of Coventry, a cotton factory, the Arkwright Mills. 
These he continued to own and direct as long as he lived. 

Like many retired sea-captains, Mr. DeWolf took great in- 
terest in agriculture. In Bristol and its neighborhood he 
owned nearly a thousand acres of land. Upon a beautiful site, 
not far from Mount Hope, he had built the stately mansion in 
which the widow of his son, William Bradford, now lives, and 
from thence in the early morning he strode forth to super- 
intend the cultivation of his fertile acres. How he found 
time to attend to his immense business, was a mystery even to 
those who knew him best. In farming, as in everything else, 



* Fessenden's History of Warren. 



JAMES DeWOLP. 325 

lie seemed to have the smallest details of his various trans- 
actions always at his command. 

Political honors frequently fell to his lot. Almost thirty 
years he represented his native town in the State Legislature, 
and for two years he was the speaker of the lower house. In 
1821 he laid aside the speaker's gavel to take his place as a 
Senator of Rhode Island, in the National Congress. In the 
United States Senate his unequaled business experience made 
liim the recognized authority in all matters purely com- 
mercial, and secured for him when he spoke, an attention 
that was accorded to no other man. He was a strong " Pro- 
tectionist," and was the first to propose the " drawback" sys- 
tem for articles manufactured in this country from material 
lirought from foreign lands — which has since been so exten- 
sively adopted. But the slow progress of congressional leg- 
islation was distasteful to his active brain, his own ever- 
increasing business demanded more and more of his time, and 
he resigned his seat before his term had expired. Until his 
death he continued to represent Bristol in the Rhode Island 
Legislature. 

In person Mr. DeWolf was tall and commanding. Always 
carefully and richly attired, he attracted unusual attention in 
an age when much more care was bestowed upon personal 
adornment than is now given. 

As a citizen, Mr. DeWolf filled a position in Bristol no man 
had ever occupied before, — one which no other man will prob- 
ably again hold. The prosperity of his birthplace was al- 
ways most dear to him ; its welfare he always regarded as 
identical with his own, and many were the schemes for its ad- 
vancement which he devised. When he died there Avas no 
one to take his place, and the news of his death seemed for a 
while to crush the life out of the town. With its every in- 
dustry he had been more or less intimately connected ; hardly 
a project had been set on foot where his aid had not been in- 
voked ; never a subscription for a worthy object had been 
started which his name had not generously led. He died at 
the residence of one of his daughters, in New York City, on 
the twenty-first day of December, 1837. 



Chapter xli. 



ST. MICHAELS CHURCH. 

1830-1880. 

On the departure of Bishop Griswold, the Rev. Jolm Bristed, 
who for eighteen months had been assisting him in his parish 
work, was chosen to succeed him as the rector of St. Michael's^ 
Church. Mr. Bristed had lately been ordained to the ministry 
by Bishop Griswold, but he was a man more than fifty years 
old, who had already gained for himself reputation and wealth 
in another profession. He brought to his work in Bristol a 
wider experience, a more varied and extensive learning, and 
a more highly cultivated mind than any of his predecessors. 

He was born in Dorsetshire, Eng., Oct. 17, 1778, in a par- 
ish of which his ancestors for many successive generations 
had been rectors. In the famous Winchester School he ob- 
tained a very thorough, classical education, and after com- 
pleting the usual preparatory course, entered the medical 
college in Edinburgh, of which the celebrated Doctor Aber- 
nethy was tlie head. From the college, at the end of three 
years, he obtained a diploma, but it would appear that he had 
taken up the study of medicine as a means of mental discipline^ 
and not with any intention of practicing as a physician, for 
almost immediately after leaving Edinburgh he commenced 
the study of law, and in due time was admitted to the Bar. 
In the year 1806 he came to America, and began his career 
as a lawyer in New York City. After many years of lucra- 
tive practice, his convictions of duty led him to forsake the 
legal profession to prepare for entrance to the ministry of the 



ST. Michael's church. 327 

Episcopal Church. In 1824 he began the study of theology 
with Bishop Griswold, and after a somewhat longer candidacy 
than usual, was ordained. 

Mr. Bristed felt very keenly the peculiar responsibility 
which fell to his lot as the successor of such a pastor as Bishop 
Griswold, but very ably and satisfactorily did he discharge 
tlie duties of his position. Almost his first work in the min- 
istry had been the building up of the parish in Warren. In 
the autumn of 1828 he had begun to hold church services in 
Cole's Hall, and in November of the same year, St. Mark's par- 
ish had been formed. In 1829, through liis energetic efforts, 
St. Mark's Church had been built. As soon as he became the 
rector of St. Michael's, Mr. Bristed began to devise measures 
for the erection of a new cliurch. This had been one of the 
ends for which Bishop Griswold had striven many years in vain. 
The opposition of a few leading men liad been sufficient to 
make the new buildiug an impossibility during Bishop Gris- 
wold's rectorship, tliougli the old church had long been too 
small comfortably to seat its large congregation. In 1832 
such extensive repairs became necessary that Mr. Bristed 
found but little difficulty in bringing about the erection of a 
new churcli. On the sixth day of Marcli, 1834, the edifice 
was consecrated by Bishop Griswold. It was a building 
eighty-five feet long by fifty-four wide, — " one of the most 
beautiful and commodious churclies in the country." It was 
erected upon the site where tlie two former churches liad 
stood. On the day after its consecration " a sufficient num- 
ber of pews were sold to defi-ay the whole cost of the build- 
ing (amounting to nineteen thousand dollars), including a 
basement lecture-room fifty feet square, a large organ, and a 
fine-toned bell." 

This beautiful edifice was not the first result of Mr, Bristed's 
labors in Bristol. He walked very carefully in the patli in 
which his predecessor had trodden, and in 1830-31 a " re- 
vival " had brought over a hundred new communicants into 
the church. A few years later, in 1838, the Reformed Metiio- 
dist Society of Bristol having been dissolved, anotlier large 
accession was made to the membership of St. Michael's. 



328 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

In 1837 Mr. Bristed's strength began to fail, and the Rev. 
Erancis Peck and the Rev. Thomas F. Fales, both natives of 
the town, became in turn his assistants. The Rev. James H. 
Eames also served the parish for a year as Mr. Bristed's as- 
sistant. In 1843 his continued ill health compelled him to 
give up work entirely and to resign the rectorship. After 
his resignation he still retained his residence in the town. 
He died on the 23d of February, 1855. * 

The Rev. James Welch Cooke was Mr. Bristed's succes- 
sor. His rectorship extended from 1844-1850. Through 
his efforts the wooden chapel, which has since been sold and 
moved to the eastern end of State Street, was built in 1848, 
at a cost of about 11,200. This building was originally 24 

* Beside the tablet ei-ected to the memory of Bishop Griswold, in the present ed- 
ifice, is placed another with this inscription : — 

Beneath 

the shadow of this Cliurch, 

rest in hope the mortal remains of the 

REV. JOHN BRISTED, 

some time Rector of the same. 

As a man, replenished with \-arious learning, 

accurate and instant in memory, 

instructive and brilliant 

in conversation, 

His mind was intensely active. 

His wit ready and sparkling. 

His gifts and resources always at command. 

As a preacher, sound in doctrine, 

fervent in spirit, copious in language, 

and oftentimes thrilling in deliverj', 

He was wise to win souls. 

As a pastor, diligent, cordial, and sympathizing. 

The affluent he attracted by his courtesy, 

the poor by his beneficence, 

And blessed all with the light of his example. 

" Whose faith follow 

Considering the end of their conversation ; 

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, 

to-day and forever." 

Mr. Bristed, besides being a man of most brilliant collorxuial powers, was also an 
unusually able writer, and published very manj- books. These are the titles of 
some of his works : Resources of the United States ; The Adviser, a Moral and Lit- 
erary Tribunal (4 vols.) ; JVofes of a Pedestrian Tour thro' part of Highland Scotland 
in 1801 ; A Collection of Critical and Philosophical Essays ; Edward and Anna (a 
novel) ; and Thovohts on the Ancjlican and Anglo-American Churches. Some five or 
six others might be mentioned. In 18^0 Mr. Bristed married a daughter of John 
Jacob Astor. He left one son, Charles Astor Bristed, who also won a very envia- 
ble literary reputation. 



ST. MICHAELS CHUUCU. 



329 




S^?B^=*Ai.^i 



Residence of Mrs. Ramon Guiteras. 



feet wide and 48 feet long ; after the erection of the present 
church edifice the cliapel was lengthened 24 feet, to accom- 
modate the greatly increased Sunday School. 

In the Russell Genealogy, its editor, Mr. John R. Bart- 
lett, has placed this account of Mr. Cooke : — 

"James Welch Cooke, the eldest child of Joseph S. and Mary (Welch) 
Cooke, was born in Providence, March 5, 1810. Having received a full 
academic education, he entered Brovpn University, graduating with his 
class in 1829. He then began a course of legal studies, in the office of 
the late Samuel W. Bridgham, the first Mayor of Providence. Before 
they were completed, however, he addressed himself to prejiaration 
for the Episcopal ministry. Upon his graduation at the Theological 
Seminary of that Church in New York, his first clerical field was Lons- 
dale, R. I., where through his instrumentality Christ Church was 
founded; in which a memorial window, presented a few years since, tes- 
tifies of him. He closed his pastorate there in 1835, having accepted the 
invitation of St. George's Church, New York, to become its Assistant 
Rector. Here he remained as the Associate of the late Rev. Dr. James 
Milnor, until 1843, when he succeeded the late Rev. John Bristed in the 
Rectorship of St. Michael's Church, Bristol, R. L, formerly and for 



330 HISTOEY OF BRISTOL. 

many years, under the pastoral charge of Bishop Griswold. At the 
close of 1851, he returned to New York, as Secretary of the Protestant 
Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions. His peculiar zeal in this service 
cost him his life. Having visited the Isthmus of Panama, on what he 
considered a special duty, he contracted a disease for which that region 
is noted, sickened upon the return trip, and died (April 12, 1853, ) two 
days after reaching New York." 

The following description of Mr. Cooke's theological views 

(also given in the Russell Genealogy^ is interesting as 

showing what the views of his parish must have been, to a 

greater or less degree, upon the same subjects : — 

" He was a very earnest disciple of what are termed ' Low-Church ' 
views. His imfeigned Evangelicism gained him an esteem by no 
means confined to his successive congregations, and far more consonant 
to his feelings than was an incident which occurred a few years before 
his death. He deemed a candidate for orders, of whom he was one of 
the examining priests, to be unsound upon a vital point of gospel doc- 
trine, and he declined to join in his ordination. But inasmuch as 
unobjectionable candidates were to be ordained at the same time, he 
was present and assisted in the ceremonies. When, however, contrary 
to his understanding of the matter, he was called upon to impose his 
hands upon this one also, he held aloof to the undisguised displeasure of 
the Bishop. It is not inappropriate to state in this connection that 
while Mr. Cooke loved and revered the Episcopal Church, he was more 
than tolerant toward other Christian bodies, for he delighted to mani- 
fest a fellowship with members of every Evangelical sect." 

On the first day of January, 1852, tlie Rev. Joseph Trap- 
nell, Jr., became the rector of the parish. Mr. Trapnell is 
the son of the late Rev. Joseph Trapnell, and was born at 
Bemmerton, Wiltshire, Eng., June 19, 1814. He came to this 
country in 1819, and was graduated from St. John's College, 
Annapolis, Md., in 1836. (Since his departure from Bris- 
tol he has received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the 
same institution.) His first rectorship was in Trinity Parish, 
Upper Marlboro, St. George County, Md. ; thence he went to 
St. Andrew's Church, Baltimore ; from Baltimore he came to 
Bristol, where he served St. Michael's with great fidelity for 
five years. He was chosen rector of St. John's Church, 
Keokuk, Iowa, in 1857, and after a few years of labor in that 
parish, was called to St. Mark's Church, Frederick County, 
Md., of which he has been for the last nineteen years, aud 
still is, the rector. 



ST. Michael's church. 331 

The Rev. William Stowe * was elected rector of St. Michael's 
parish at the Easter meeting in 1858. In that year the church 
received from Mrs. Lydia S. French the very valuable gift of 
the lot of land lying next west of the church, with the sub- 
stantial dwelling-house standing thereon, to be used as a 
rectory. At about a quarter before twelve o'clock on tlie night 
of Sunday, Dec. 5, 1858, the church was discovered to be on 
fire. The flames, when first seen, were bursting out from the 
large window in the eastern end of the building. So rapid 
was the work of destruction, that by 1 o'clock the church was 
in ruins. '' The rector succeeded in saving his robes. A 
Prayer-book, a book of Psalms and Hymns, two chairs, a look- 
ing-glass and an umbrella-stand only were saved besides. The 
church was so densely filled with smoke that no one could 
safely enter it, and it was useless to attempt the removal of 
any but the articles named. These, with the exception of the 
two books, were all from the robing-room." Thus the parish 
a second time saw its church in ruins, but under circumstances 
very different from those which attended the destruction of 
the first edifice. Tlie feeble band which had enjoyed the min- 
istrations of the missionary sent over from England by the 
"Propagation Society," had become a strong and vigorous 
congregation, one which for years had been one of the most 
important of the Episcopal churches in New England. While 
the aslies were yet smoking, the vestry met together and de- 
cided that a new church should at once take the place of the 
old one. Peace and prosperity were then smiling upon the 
land, and the dark cloud that was soon lowering upon the 
southern horizon had not then taken definite shape. Perhaps 
if the fire had come two years later, the work of rebuilding 
would not have been so easy. 

On the twelfth day of April, 1860, the corner stone of the 
present church was laid ; on Tuesday, the twenty-sixth day of 

* Mr. Stowc was a deacon at this timo, having but recently entered the ministry 
of the Protestant Episcopal Churcli. Ho was ordained to the priesthood very soon 
after he became rector. During- his rectorship a parish debt of $1,800, which had 
been incurred for repairs and alterations of the old church, was paid. From Bristol 
he went to Port Huron, Mich., where he remained nine years. He is now rector of 
St. John's Church, Clyde, N. S. 



832 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

November, 1861, the edifice was consecrated. From the de- 
struction of the old churcli until the new one was completed, 
the congregation met for service in the old Methodist meet- 
ing-house upon the Common. The new building should have 
been finished at a much earlier date, but in the latter part of 
August, 1860, the roof and the end walls which were nearly 
completed, fell in, through some defect in the work or the 
materials, necessitating very much additional labor. (On 
Tuesday evening Mr. James DeW. Perry was admitted to the 
order of deacons, the services being held in the newly-con- 
secrated edifice.) 

This is the description of the building, which appeared the 
next day in the Providence Post : — 

" The building is a line gotliic structure of freestone, with a steeple on 
the southeast corner. It was built from plans furnished by Saeltzer & 
Valk, of New York, by George Eicker, of Newark, N. J. In its dimen- 
sions it is 111 feet long by 72 broad, and 72 feet from the floor to the 
apex of the roof. The steeple is 130 feet high, including a freestone 
tower, a belfry, and a spire of wood covered with slate. The roof is 
double, the clear roof resting on five arches on each side, which are sup- 
ported by heavy columns. The windows are of stained glass.* On the 
left of the chancel are two marble tablets in niches, insci'ibed respec- 
tively to Bishop Griswold and the Kev. John Bristed. The body of the 
house contains 131 pews, capable of seating 750 persons, while the gallery 
which is over the vestibule will seat 75 more. The organ, which is frora 
Hook's establishment, Boston, is on the right of the chancel. The pews, 
organ, desk, pulpit, and chancel rail are of black walnut, and the font is 
of white marble, and all except the pews and organ were furnished by 
the ladies of the parish. The entire floor is carpeted with a neat pattern 
in red and black, and the pews are upholstered ready for use. The cost 
of the building complete was about $35,000, and the organ cost in addi- 
tion thereto, .$2,000." 

One-third of the pews sold for nearly two-thirds of the cost 
of the edifice. The highest sum paid as " choice money " was 
one thousand dollars. 

In 1865 Mr. Stowe resigned the rectorship, to accept a call 
to Grace Church, Port Huron, Michigan. He was succeeded 
by the Rev. Dr. Lewis P. W. Balch.f Dr. Balch remained 

* The windows of the clere story have since been replaced with others of lighter 
glass, to give more light. 

+ Dr. Balch was born at Leesburg, Va., Feb. 1, 1814. He was ordained deacon by 
Bishop White, and priest by Bishop Mead. From 1853-1866, he was the secretary of 



ST. MICHAELS CHURCH. 



333 




Chapel of St. Michael's Church. 



but one year, resigning in 
1866 to become a canon 
of the Catliedral of Mont- 
real. 

In 1867 the Rev. George 
L. Locke, a native of Bos- 
ton, and a graduate of 
Harvard College (class of 
1859), became the rector. 
During his rectorsliip 
tlie parish has increased 
in membership and in 
strength. Only two of 
the churches in the dio- 
cese surpass it in the 

number of communicants, 420 names being at present en- 
rolled upon its books. In the year 1877, St. Michael's 
Chapel, one of the most beautiful edifices of tlie kind in the 
country, was erected. It deserves the following somewliat 
extended description which appeared in the Phwnix of April 
21,1877. 

" The new Chapel of St. Michael's Parish is located on the east side of 
Hope Street, on a site rising gently towards the rear. The building is 
rectangular in plan, 52 by 7G feet, with a porch projecting five feet in 
front. The foundations are solidly built of local stone and enclose a 
cellar the full size of the building. The cellar is devoted to the heating 
apparatus, which consists of two ample Boynton furnaces, with jiipes 
leading to all the rooms. The building is in the pointed style of archi- 
tecture, with walls of brown stone from the 3IcGregor quan-ies at 
East Lougnieadow, Mass., laid in rock-face broken ashlar, with joints 
pointed with red mortar. The roof is covered with best dark Pennsyl- 
vania slate. At the northwest corner is a small bell turret, terminating 
in a metal cross. The open i^orch at the front leads to a commodious 
vestibule, which connects directly with the main room, the infant class 
room, 122 by 26 feet, and another room 14 by 21 feet, for classes and gen- 
eral parish purposes, and by stairs, with the cellar and belfry. Adjoin- 
ing the last-named room, and connected with it by sliding doors, is a 
similar room. Both of these and also the infant class room, the former 



the House of Bishops. He was Canon of the Cathedral of Montreal from 18ti(i IHTl. 
He was Archdeacon of Kent, Huron, and Canon to the Cathedral in 1S74. He died 
in Detroit, Mich., June 4, 1875. 



334 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

two on the north and the latter on the west, are connected with the 
main room by handsome glazed screens which are arranged to slide up 
into the partitions so as to throw the whole suite together with little ob- 
struction to sight and sound. Another room, 8 by 14 feet, opening from 
the main room on the north, is arranged for the Sunday School library. 
At the northeast corner of the building, and connecting with the main 
room, is the rector's study, 11 by 14 feet. This has adjoining it a small 
robing-room, which has an outside door, and a door opening to platform 
of main room. The platform is arranged somewhat after the manner of 
a chancel, though hardly of size and proportions, to warrant that title. 
At the south of the platform is an organ chamber, 6 by 7 feet, with 
arches opening to platform and to main room. The main room is 34 by 
50 feet. The vertical walls are twelve feet high, and the upper part is 
finished up into the roof about 25 feet, showing the trusses, which are 
finished with stained white pine. The other rooms are 12 feet high, fin- 
ished with flat ceilings. Above the ceilings is an open space under the 
roof which has an opening for ventilation at each end under the ridge. 
Connecting with the space under the roof, are ventilators in ceilings of 
main and class rooms, arranged to open and close by means of cords. 

The doors and inside finish throughout are of ash, and most of the 
floors are of southern hard pine. The windows of the south side are 
glazed with decorated cathedral glass, those on the north side where 
more clear white light is wanted, and some others, have plain glass with 
tinted borders. The walls and ceilings throughout, except the rector's 
study, are tinted in distemper, and treated with considerable color deco- 
ration, rich but sober in effect. 

The study, in order to give it a rather more domestic character, has its 
walls decorated very appropriately with paper hanging. The arched 
panel at the north of the chancel arch is filled with a set of tablets 
richly illuminated in gold and color, and having the Commandments, the 
Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, with a design at the top having a cross 
entwined with ivy and holly. These tablets are the gift of Henry 
Codman, Esq., who also gave the rich crimson Brussels carpet of the 
platform. For artificial lighting, the building is amply provided with 
gas fixtures of polished brass. The main room has a large central 
chandelier, and a suitable number of side brackets, and the side rooms 
have chandeliers and brackets as their needs require. The main room is 
furnished with ash seats with reversible backs, and the other rooms 
have appropriate ash furniture made specially for them. The reading- 
desk, lectern, table and platform seats are of black walnut. The chapel 
has been built from designs and under the direction of Mr. Stephen C. 
Earle, of Boston. The builders were Norcross Brothers, of Worcester. 
The cost of the building with heating apparatus, exclusive of furniture, 
has been about $12,500. 

The parish of St. Michael's has furnished much mere than 
its proportion of ministers to the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
Besides Bishop Griswold, it has given two bishop?, the Rt. 



ST. Michael's church. 335 

Rev. Benjamin B. Smith, of Kentucky, for some years the 
presiding bishop of the church, and the Rt. Rev. Mark A. 
DeWolfe Howe, of Central Pennsylvania. At least a dozen 
more of its ministers, now living, were born within the limits 
of the parish, while many others, besides, are at rest from 
their labors. 

These are at present the wardens and vestry of the parish : 
Wardens — Jonathan D. Waldron and Robert S. Andrews; 
Vestrymen — Thomas J. Usher, George H. Pearce, Theodore 
P. Bogert, John H. Pitman, Andrew R. Trotter, Otis Munro, 
Edward S. Babbitt, William T. C. AVardwell, Samuel P. Colt, 
Herbert F. Bennett and Wilfred IT. Munro.* 



* In the list of the ftrst vestry of the parish, elected on Easter Monday in 1724, 
appears the name of William Munro, an ancestor, five generations removed, of the 
author of this book. From father to son in unbroken line the office has come down 
for one hundred and fiftj^-six years. The fact seems most remarkable. It would 
be difficult, perhaps, to find its parallel. 



Chapter xlii. 



THE SCHOOLS. 



Four years before the day when the people of Bristol met 
too^ether in their first town-meeting, the General Court of 
Plymouth Colony enacted that if any town of seventy families 
should be destitute of a g-rammar school, it should be taxed X5 
for the support of such a school '' to the end that learning 
may not be buried in the graves of our fathers." This law 
was still in force when Bristol was founded, but a mandate 
from the General Court was not needed to induce the liberal- 
minded founders of the town to take action in the matter. 
In the Grand Articles suitable provision for the support of a 
school was made, and at the fourth town-meeting, Sept. 7, 
1682, this vote was passed : — 

Voted: " That each person that liatli children in town ready to go to 
school, shall pay 3d. the week for each child's schooling to a school- 
master, and the town by rate according to each rateable estate shall 
make the wages amount to twenty-four pounds the year. The selectmen 
to look out a grammar schoolmaster and use their endeavor to obtain 
five pounds of the Cape money! granted for such an end." 

* In the year 1875, at the request of the School Committee, a very able and com- 
plete historical sketch of the public schools of Bristol was prepared by Miss Ellen 
R. Luther, for publication in the " centennial year." From Miss Luther's account 
the extended quotations which appear in this chapter are taken. 

+ The profit arisinj? from the fishery upon the Cape was devoted to the mainte- 
nance of g-rammar schools. In this connection the exact meaning- of the term 
grammar school should be carefully borne in mind. The only kind of grammar 
taught in those days was Latin grammar ; the only grammar schools were those in 
which the study of Latin was pursued. The study of English grammar has only 
within a comparatively recent period become an essential feature of a school 
course. In England the original meaning is for the most part still attached to the 



THE SCHOOLS. 




The Byfield School 



Samuel Cobbitt became the first " sclioolmaster " of tlie 
town in 1685. A house lot, a ten-acre lot, and a portion of 
the "land for common improvement," were set apart for liis 
use, while a small sum of money was also appropriated to 
defray the expenses of his moving to the town. Thencefor- 
ward, votes concerning the school and sclioolmaster appear 
almost as frequently upon the town records as those concern- 
ing the meeting-house and the minister. 

Mr, Cobbitt held the position of schoolmaster until 1694, 
when Josiah Hervey was appointed to succeed him, with a 
salary of <£25 per annum, and the use of the school-lands. 
" Mr. Hervey's stay among the youths of the town seems to 
have been short, for it stands recorded that in 1699 Mr. 
Easterbrooks was ' re-elected ' schoolmaster with a salary of 



iiiirae ; in this country we have almost entirelj' lost sig-ht of its primary sig-niflcation. 
This fact, therefore, is apparent in this vote — that the town of Bristol, in its very 
earliest years, raised its voice in favor of the most advanced education which could 
then be obtained. 

22 



338 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

c£30. Part of this was to be paid by the scholars themselves, 
' 3d. a week for Reading and Writing, and 4d. for Latin ; ' 
the remainder to be made up by the town." Toward the end 
of the year it was proposed, on account of the increase of in- 
habitants on tlie outskirts, to divide tlie town into two school 
districts, the " North Creek " being the dividing line. The 
opposition of Mr. Easterbrooks defeated the plan that year, 
but in 1700 the representations of those living north of the 
bridge were sufficient to bring about the object desired. The 
sum of X20 was voted to the part of the town south of the 
North Creek, provided it " improved a schoolmaster " eight 
months of the year, and £10 were voted to those living north 
of the bridge for maintaining a school for four months. 

In 1701 Mr. Severs succeeded Mr. Easterbrooks. In the 
following year ,£20 were appropriated for the building of a 
school-house in the compact part of the town, the school hav- 
ing before been taught in private houses. There is no record, 
however, to show that a school-house was built at that time. 
" Mr. Severs remained until 1705 and was succeeded by 
Samuel Howland, in 1709. He was ' persuaded to tarry ' 
until 1712. Upon his resignation of office, Timothy Fales 
was installed ' school master.' The total expense of maintain- 
ing the town government at this time was £60, forty of 
which went to the schoolmaster. Mr. Howland was after- 
wards Town Clerk for many years." 

" In 1714 Mr. Bjfield conveyed to John Nutting, who was teacher of 
the Grammar School at that time, for the use of the schools forever, 
certain lands known ever since as the ' school lands.' These are in four 
lots or parcels ; a lot lying between Church and Byfield streets and ex- 
tending west of High Street to the estate of tlie late John Hoard; a lot 
at the east of the town, bounded on the west by the old buryiug-ground 
and the estate of the late Leonard Waldron, on the north by State Street, 
on the south by the Mount Eoad, and extending east as far as the prop- 
erty of Mr. John Barney; a lot between State Street and Bradford Street, 
extending west from Wood Street one hundred and sixty -five feet; a lot 
on the main road to Warren. A part of this hmd was rented the very 
next year, and most of it has been productive of more or less income 
ever since, much of it being at present leased for a long term of years. 
For a very longtime the school was mainly supported by this income. 
The people were never taxed directly for this purpose after this gift, un- 



THE SCHOOLS. 339 

til far into the present century. It must have been some time between 
1830 and 1840 (1839) tliat the Committee first asked for a special appro- 
priation from tlie town for the support of the school. The sum asked 
was $500. The request was granted without difficulty. The amount 
received from the rent of the lands was, previous to the appropriation, 
eked out in various ways." 

In 1718, and for many years afterward, a license fee, vary- 
ing from 21s. to X4, was charged upon all houses of enter- 
tainment, and the money obtained was devoted to the support 
of the schools. In 1729 the schoolmaster was instructed to 
receive from each scholar 4s., or its value in fire-wood. In 
1818 (May 2d), a vote was passed that all money which 
should come to the town from the property of strangers dying 
within its limits, should be devoted to the support of the free 
schools. 

Voted, "That the Town Council be instructed to exact a reasonable sum 
from all persons who may dance the slack rope or wire, or perform any 
feats of activity, or exhibit any animal or wax figures, or other show in 
this town who exact pay from their spectators ; and to collect double 
the sum exacted in case any person shall presume to exhibit without 
their permission, and that the money arising under this Act be appro- 
priated to the support of free schools." 

In 1832 the Committee were instructed to demand from all 
those scholars whose parents were able to pay it, a sum not 
to exceed twenty-five cents, for the purchase of books, sta- 
tionery, etc. This practice prevailed until 1867 ; since that 
time the schools have been entirely free. The scholar, from 
his entrance to the primary until his graduation from the 
high school, pays notliing whatever for his education, and the 
town provides even the books and the stationery which he 
uses. 

In 1724 it was proposed to settle a schoolmaster for the 
term of seven years. The salary was to be X50 per annum 
for a single man ; £60 for one wlio was married. Mr. Amos 
Throope was induced to take the position, but at the end of 
seven months, having received a call to the ministry from 
Woodstock, asked from the town a release from his engage- 
ment. Mr. John Wight, of Dedham, was his successor, 



340 HISTORY OF BRISTOL, 

beginning his term of office in 1728. Having proved himself 
an excellent teacher, at the expiration of one year he was re- 
elected for seven years. 

The town-meeting, in 1727, appropriated <£50 for the erec- 
tion of a school-house. It was a one-story, gambrel-roofed 
building, twenty-six feet by twenty, and twelve feet between 
joists. It was thought large enough to hold sixty scholars ; 
many more than that number were frequently packed into it, 
for the seating (?) accommodations of those days admitted of 
indefinite expansion. The scliool-liouse was placed behind 
the Court House in State Street (nearly opposite the M. E. 
Church lot), and stood until 1799, when it was taken down 
and the school was transferred to the Court House. 

Mr. Wight remained until 1740. In 1738 he was charged 
in town-meeting with not doing his duty, but nevertheless 
retained his place for two years longer. Mr. Hovey followed, 
with a salary of ^130; from 1742 to 1747 Shearjashub 
Bourne held the office. From the expiration of Mr. Bourne's 
term of service until the year 1772, the schoolmasters appear 
and disappear with bewildering rapidity. Daniel Bradford, 
John Throope, Bosworth Kinnicutt, John Coomer and Samuel 
Pearse taught the "Neck School" during that time. The 
teachers in town were Shearjashub Bourne, Israel Nichols, 
Leverett Hubbard, Bellamy Bosworth, Nathaniel Lindall, 
John Throope, Josiah Brown, Haile Turner, John Barrows, and 
John Usher, Jr. In 1764, £1,050 were paid to Mr. Usher for 
teaching for a year and a half.* From 1772 to 1781 no 
school whatever was maintained. Samuel Bosworth taught 
from 1781-1788, and from that time forward the schoolmas- 
ter's name disappears from the records of the town-meetings. 
The direction of affairs relating to the schools was about 
that time committed to the charge of a prudential committee, 
and the committee kept no records. 

"In 1802 Peter Church, William DeWolf, William Cogges- 
hall and others, living on the Neck, presented a petition in 
town-meeting, praying to be allowed to build a school-house 

* See pag-e 1C5. 



THE SCHOOLS. 



341 




Residence of Mrs, M. DeW. Rogers. 

Oil the ten-acre school lot on the main road to Warren. 
This petition was granted and a brick building, twenty-two 
feet by twenty, was erected. This was used for a public 
scliool until 1841, when a new school-house was built much 
nearer the town, on the east side of the road, on a part of the 
land belonging to the Asylum Farm. The town appropriated 
$500 for this purpose, and in 1843 it sold the old brick house 
and laid out the proceeds on the new one." Only a pile of 
bricks now marks the site of the old building. 

John DeWolf, Moses Van Doom and Charles Collins were 
in 1804 appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions for a 
new school-house in the south district (the compact part of 
the town). The money needed was easily obtained, the 
Masonic Society bearing half the expense of erection, and 
securing a lodge-room in the second story. The building was 
not entirely completed until 1809, a small appropriation being 
made for it by the town that year. It has since that time 
been greatly enlarged.* 



* The sum of $"00 was named upon the subscription paper, "to be applioil to 
building: a brick house upon the Common, to be 50 feet in length, 28 feet in width, 



342 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

The town was divided into three school districts, stretehino:- 
from shore to shore, in 1811. "The North District extended 
from ' Peck's Hill ' to Warren ; the Middle began at ' Peck's 
Hill,' and extended to Poppasquash Corner, and included 
Poppasquash ; the South District comprised the remainder of 
the town." In that same year the school lands, whicli before 
had been rented annually, were leased for periods of from 
twenty to fifty years. 

" After 1788, as has been before said, the town records do not hold 
themselves responsible for the name of the schoolmaster. About the 
year 1835, the Committee began to issue a yearly report of the condition 
of the schools. Of these none is known to exist of a date earlier than 
1838. There is, then, an interval of fifty years, from 1788 to 1838, of which 
there is no written record whatever, and which must therefore be filled 
— as far as it is filled at all — from memory. This portion of school 
history will of necessity be somewhat unsatisfactory. No successful 
attempt can be made to fix any date before 1825, and there is not want- 
ing a reasonably strong suspicion that the list of teachers, especially the 
earlier ones, is not perfect. Daniel Bradford, mentioned before as 
having taught on the Neck — or perhaps his son — is the most remote 
name that it is possible to lay hold upon with any degree of certainty, 
and he must have come a long time after Samuel Bosworth, as he 
is within the memory of people living now. He was succeeded by 
Mr. Swan, who in his turn gave place to Mr. Kawson, and he again to 
Capt. William E. Noyes. Of the first three there is nothing to be said 
but that they taught the school, managed it with more or less success, 
and were themselves more or less managed by unruly boys, who would 
stuff seaweed into the stove pipe, and thought it was a fine thing to 
" thrash " the schoolmaster. But the name of Captain Noyes is a familiar 
one to the older inhabitants of the town, many of whom were his 
scholars. He was as successful as it was possible for any one to be, in 
the days when everything seems to have been arranged with a view to 
hindering and nothing for helping the teacher. Text-books were very 
scarce, one or two of a kind doing duty through the whole school. 
A scholar commenced his education with Alden's Speller. When he had 
mastered this he was expected to learn a lesson twice a week from the 
New Testament. From this he passed to the English Speaker. These, 
together with Daboll's Arithmetic, made up the list of text-books. 
Occasionally, to lighten the labors of the teacher, monitors wer& 
employed from the more advanced scholars, but not systematically. 
Captain Noyes was a remarkably fine penman, the copies which he wrote 

and two stories hig-h — the expense of the building- to be equally borne by the town 
and the Masonic Societj' — the first story, or ground floor, to belong: to the town for 
a free school room forever." James De Wolf's subscription was $400, George De- 
Wolf and Charles DeWolf subscribed $100 each. 



THE SCHOOLS. 343 

being almost as fine as copper-plate. He set all the copies and mended 
all the pens. He taught navigation to young men going to sea, but this 
was quite separate and distinct from his regular work. He was 
succeeded by Otis Storrs. 

"At tliis point we reach a reliable date. About the year 1826, Mr. 
Storrs came to Bristol and opened a private school in the Academy, on 
what is known as the Lancasterian system. His success was so great that 
in 1828 the Committee asked him to take the town school and allow girls 
to go and share his instructions with the boys. Before this, girls did not 
go to the public school. Upon his acceptance, they enlarged the brick 
school-house and fitted it up with reference to the workings of this pe- 
culiar system. The teacher's desk stood on a raised platform at the 
west end of the room. Down the length of the school-room, through the 
middle, ran a single aisle. On each side of this were arranged semi-cir- 
cular desks, with seats on the outer curve for the scholars. .The desks 
did not have lids but were open in front, and each accommodated eight 
scholars. On the inner curve was a bench where they sat to recite. 
The monitor who heard the recitations, had a stool in the centre of the 
circle. The teacher heard the monitors recite and had the supervision 
of the school. This system was very popular at the time. Mr. Storrs 
was succeeded by John Cross, and he by James E. Hidden." 

Dennis S. Gushee became teacher of the Grammar School 
in 1836. He was not a believer in the Lancasterian system, 
and the school-rooms were therefore remodeled and arranged 
after the more modern plan. He continued to teach until 
1849. During his term of office a vigorous and successful ef- 
fort was made by the Committee to give system to the school 
organization. Several grades were established. The highest 
school was called the Select School ; the other grades were 
the Grammar, the Intermediate, and the Primary. 

A committee was appointed by the town in 1830 to pur- 
chase the Academy of Mr. James DeWolf. The building was 
erected in 1791, for the use of a private school. From time 
to time the town had hired a portion of it, when the number 
of scholars was too large to be accommodated in the Brick 
School-House. When the committee approached Mr. De- 
Wolf upon the subject, he at once presented the town with a 
deed of the building. It was used thenceforward until the 
" Byfield School " was completed, when it was sold at auction 
and moved away ; it has since been converted into two dwelling- 
houses. About the time of the purchase of the Academy, 



344 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

primary schools were organized. The North and South Pri- 
mary and the Northeast District school-houses were built in 
1848. 

The School Committee of 1849 was authorized to elect a 
Superintendent of Schools, with a salary of not more than 
$200. The Rev. Thomas Shepard was the first to hold the 
office. The following is the list of Superintendents : — 



Rev. Thomas Shepard 1849-1855. 

George B. Monro 1855-1859. 

Robert S. Andrews 1859-1862. 



John N. Burgess 1862-1864. 

Robert S. Andrews 1864-1877. 

Parmenas Skinner, Jr 1877 . 



•' For along time some of the more liberal minded of the citizens of 
Bristol had felt the need of a higher course of study than that pursued 
in the Grammar School. But the least suggestion of such a thing was 
met by violent opposition. But the project had among its supporters 
three men of culture and influence, whose own liberal education ena- 
bled them to appreciate more clearly than most, the influence of a higher 
system of study, not only upon the students themselves, but also on the 
general intelligence and cultivation. These were Rev. Thomas Shepard, 
Rev. James W. Cooke, and Rev. James N. Sykes. Supported by the other 
members of the School Committee, they did valiant service for the 
cause, and at length won the victory — won it, but did not dare to ac- 
knowledge that they had. 

"In the autumn of 1848, the Committee were holding their regular 
meeting in Mr. Shepard's study. They had debated whether it was pos- 
sible to establish a High School. There had been exi^ressed a good deal 
of doubt, both on account of want of means and lack of general friend- 
liness towards the undertaking. All present were strongly in favor of 
it, yet all were taken by sur^jrise when Mr. William B. Spooner rose and 
moved that such a school should be organized. The subject was now 
fairly before them, and although they were frightened, almost, by the 
audacity of the scheme, when it came to assume a tangible shape, the 
motion was seconded and carried without a dissenting voice, and the 
" Select School" became a fixed fact — the " Select School," for they 
did not choose to offend the prejudices of the town by calling it the 
" High School." They were contented for the present with the fact, the 
name would come all in good time. 

" The scholars who were to constitute this school were selected from 
the various schools in the town. They were forty-five in number, and 
they occupied the lower part of the Academy. The school opened 
auspiciously, with William E. Jillson at the head. The committee were 
most fortunate in the selection of this the first teacher. He was a man 
of genial disposition, easily accessible, and regarded his pupils as his 
personal friends. His success was such as to win the admii'atiou of 
even the enemies of the school. To the extreme regret of the Committee 
and of the school, the connection came to an end in the fall of 1849. 



THE SCHOOLS. 345 

Mr. Jillson was afterwards Assistant Librarian at the Congressional 
Library, at Washington, and later. Librarian at the Public Library, 
Boston. He was succeeded by Lafayette Burr, under whom the school 
went on prosperously something over two years. 

"In the spring of 1851, Dr. Nathan B. Cooke was elected to fill the 
place left vacant by Mr. Burr. Dr. Cooke was a doctor of medicine and 
a minister of the Bajitist Society, but owing to an affection of the throat, 
he was obliged to give up preaching for a number of years, during 
which time the Committee were so fortunate as to secure his services. 
A more faithful, thorough and interested teacher no school ever had. 
While it was under his charge a systematic plan of study was adopted. 
This, together with the fact that the school had increased greatly in 
numbers, rendered an assistant teacher necessary, and created a demand 
for more room. The Academy was therefore enlarged in 18.52, and the 
school moved up stairs. The east end of the upper part had been 
separated from the main room by a partition and sliding doors, and was 
used for a recitation-room, and Mary W. Shepard was installed assistant. 
Not long after, a small sum of money was expended by the Committee 
for philosophical apparatus. For the space of nine years Dr. Cooke 
remained in the position. At the end of this time he removed to 
Newton, Mass., where he taught two years. While there he met 
Prof. Lewis Monroe, the elocutionist, who encouraged him to think 
that it was possible for him to resume preaching. It had always been 
a source of deep sorrow to him that he was debari-ed fi'om following his 
chosen calling, and upon Professor Monroe's decision he removed to 
Leicester, Mass., to take charge of a parish, and thence to Lonsdale, 
R. I., where he remained until his death in 1871. His remains were 
brought to Bristol, and laid in Juniper Hill Cemetery. 

"Upon Mr. Cooke's withdrawal in 1860, Thomas W. Bicknell, of Bar- 
rington, was elected to the office. He remained three years, and then 
left, to accept the principalship of one of the grammar schools of Provi- 
dence. Henry S. Latham, a most accomplished scholar, succeeded him. 
At the end of four years, the Committee paid Mr. Bicknell the deserved 
compliment of asking him to become the princij^al of the school again. 
He accepted the invitation and remained two years. Mr. Bicknell 
received the office of Commissioner of Public Schools in 1SC9, which 
he retained several years. He is now editor of the Nnv England Journal 
of Education. 

"In 1869, Frank G. Morley was chosen principal. Although young, he 
developed a remarkable ability for imparting information, and unusual 
talent for controlling the school. . . . For nearly six years he 
labored. At the end of this time his health failed, and he sent his 
resignation to the Committee to take effect at the end of the term. 
But so rapid were the inroads of disease that he was forced to leave 
soon after the middle. He went to Pittsfield, Mass., where he died of 
consumption at the residence of his father. Rev. J. B. Morley, Aug. 1, 
1875." 



346 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 



Miss Ellen R. Luther, the assistant teacher, was placed in 
charge of the school after the departure of Mr. Morley ; re- 
taining its control until Mr. Charles Fish was elected prin- 
cipal. Mr. Fish taught but one term and was succeeded by 
Walter F. Marston. At the end of two years' service Mr. 
Marston resigned and Edward D. Mason was chosen to fill 
his place. Mr. Mason resigned in 1879, and was succeeded by 
Mr. James A. Estee, the present principal. The following is 
the list of the principals of the High School, with their terms 
of service and the names of the colleges (so far as known) 
from which they graduated : — 



W. E. Jillson (Brown Univ. 1846) 1848-49 
Lafayette Burr ( " 1848)1849-51 

N. B. Cooke.M. d. ( " 1840) 1851-SO 

T. W. Bicknell ( " 1860) 1860-63 

H. S. Latham ( '• 1863) 1863-67 

T. W. Bicknell ( " 1860) 1867-69 



F. G. Morley (Williams Col. 1867) 1869-75 

Charles Fish ( )1875 one term. 

W. F. Alarston ( ) 1875-77 

E. D. Mason (Dartmouth Col.1873) 1877-79 
James A. Estee (Alfred Univ. 1872)1879 — 



In 1851 a school for colored children was opened. It con- 
tinued to be maintained until 1864, when by act of the Legis- 
lature, all distinctions of color in the public schools were 
abolished. 

Mr. Joshua Kendall, the principal of the State Normal 
School (from 1858 to 1864 the sessions of the Normal School 
were held in Bristol), was elected chairman of the School 
Committee in 1862. Under his superintendence, a very rad- 
ical change was made in the grading of the schools. The 
High School and the primary schools remained as before, 
while five successive grades were placed between them. Other 
changes have since been made. The schools of the South 
District now are : one High School, three grammar, three 
intermediate, one advanced primary, and four primary 
schools. Throughout the winter, two evening schools, one 
for boys and one for girls, are maintained. 

In the year 1871 the necessity for more improved accom- 
modations for the schools had become so apparent that the 
erection of a new building was determined upon. The old 
Methodist meeting-house, which stood upon the southwest 
corner of the Common, was moved away and the " Byfield 



THE SCHOOLS, 



347 



School " was erected upon its site. The building is two sto- 
ries high, with a French roof. It contains eight school-rooms 
and a farge hall above them. The cost of this school-house 
was $40,000 ; its furnishing cost 84,700 besides. 

Its architect was C. T. Emerson, of Lawrence, Mass., and 
James Lawless, John R. Slade, Solon H. Smith, John B. 
Munro, William H. West, James M. Gifford, and Alfred 
Pierce were the building committee chosen to supermtend 
its construction. It was dedicated with appropriate exer- 
cises, Saturday, Sept. 6, 1873. The following "Dedication 
Ode" was written for the occasion by the Right Rev. Dr. 
Howe : — 



When first upon the rock-bound strand 
Our pilgrim fathers made their home, 

Beside their huts, with pious hand, 
They built for prayer an humble dome. 

Soon in the forest-clearing rose 

The \illage school of logs unhewn, 
The roof was green with hemlock 
boughs, 
Through creviced wall the light was 
strewn. 

The fathers toiled and fought by turns 
To break the soil — repel the foe ; — 

Th' heroic fire that inly burns, 
Was fanned to flame that roof below. 

The house of prayer, the village school — 
These were the muniments of power, 

The strength to hold, the skill to rule, 
Were drawn from these in needful 
hour. 



O, shades of holy men and brave, 
Whose dust lies buried round these 
walls, 

Wake from your tranquil rest, we crave. 
And hover o'er these votive halls. 

The full-grown village school behold. 
Planted in faith by works displayed I 

Your logs have sprouted, and we hold 
Our festal day beneath their shade. 

Come, thronging generations, come. 
Here gird your souls for generous 
strife, 

Beneath this roof find Learning's home ; 
And near it seek the Tree of Life ! 

God of our fathers, still maintain 
The heritage their prowess gave ! 

Churches and schools henceforth remain 
Th' armories of the free and brave. 



Chapter xliii. 



THE SLAVE-TRADE. 

To give an accurate account of the share which Bristol and 
the other towns of Rhode Island once took in the slave-trade 
is now impossible. Its immense profits made those who were 
engaged in it unwilling to make public many facts connected 
with the business; — the higher moral tone which now pre- 
vails throughout the world has induced their descendants to 
suppress all the evidences which proved the participation of 
their ancestors in it. This sensitiveness is natural, but 
unnecessary. Let us not hold our ancestors responsible 
for deeds which in their day were not regarded as sinful. 
Perhaps a century hence actions and practices which now 
occasion no comment, may seem in the highest degree blame- 
worthy to those who shall succeed us. For the slave-trade 
the author does not propose to make the slightest defence. 
In his opinion it admits of none. It justly merits the infamy 
the world now heaps upon it. For those merchants and 
seamen of Bristol who engaged in it during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries, and prior to the year 1808, when it 
was declared illegal, a few words of explanation and apology 
may well be offered. 

It is not necessary here to recapitulate the history of 
slavery, as it had existed in the world before America was 
discovered ; the facts are familiar to all intelligent readers. 
Among all the nations of the world the institution has at 
some time flourished in some form. Negro slavery was the 



THE SLAVE-TRADE. 349 

result of the great maritime discoveries of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. The African slave-trade was begun by the Portuguese 
in 1444, and the other nations of Europe were not slow in 
following in the track of those enterprising navigators. Dar- 
ing the reign of the Stuarts the trade flourished in England 
with great vigor, and its extension to the English colonies 
became a matter of course. There were v^hite slaves as well 
as black in America, as those who have read Charles Reade's 
Wandering' Heir may, perhaps, have realized. The supply of 
laborers was very limited, and Indians conquered in battle 
were sold into servitude by their conquerors. The first negro 
slaves sold in the English colonies were brought in a Dutch 
vessel and landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in the year 1620. 
Very soon the "peculiar institution" acquired a firm foot- 
hold, and for years scarcely a doubt was raised as to its 
propriety or morality. 

We have no means of knowing when the first negro slaves 
were landed in Bristol. Their coming was not deemed a fact 
so unusual as to be worthy of a record. In Nathaniel By- 
field's will (as has been before mentioned), he gives orders 
for the disposition of his negro slave. Rose, " brought to Bris- 
tol from the West Indies in the spring of 1718." It is quite 
possible that the first vessels to ply between this town and 
the West Indies were both willing and desirous to bring back 
slaves upon their return trip. The early establishment of 
distilleries shows that the people of Bristol must soon have 
ceased to draw their slave supply from the West Indies, and 
that they soon began to invest capital in the African slave- 
trade. 

This was the way in which the business was conducted : 
Nearly all the owners of the distilleries also owned many 
vessels. From Cuba a cargo of molasses was procured and 
quickly converted into New England rum. From the distil- 
lery the great casks went straight to the hold of a schooner 
or sloop lying at the neighboring wharf. Some light goods, 
suited to the barbaric tastes of the natives of the coast, were 
also placed on board, and the vessel was cleared for the coast 



350 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

of Africa. The voyage was almost always a long one, for the 
vessels were built to carry freight, and not for speed ; the 
stay upon the coast was also somewhat protracted (depend- 
ing greatly upon the condition of the inland tribes, from 
whom the captives were mostly obtained). One by one, the 
hogsheads of rum would be bartered for slaves, until the 
desired number was obtained, and then the captain would 
sail for Cuba, or one of the neighboring islands, where he 
was always sure of a ready market for his cargo. There he 
would load with molasses for Bristol, and so the round would 
be completed. 

The number of negroes taken on board was never very large. 
It did not pay to take too many. The owners were also ex- 
tremely careful of the health of their cargo. They did not force 
their human freight into quarters as crowded as those with 
which the sailors who served upon privateers were well con- 
tent. The slaves were not packed together as the emigrants 
from England have been upon the Liverpool clipper-ships, 
within the memory of many now living. The voyages were 
made without a very great amount of hardship. Most of the 
letters from the masters of the slave-vessels have been lost. 
Occasionally they are met with and furnish very entertaining 
reading. No scruples respecting the nature of their business 
appear to have troubled these writers. One captain piously 
writes : " We have now been twenty days upon the coast, and 
by the blessing of God, shall soon have a good cargo." The 
following is a very good specimen of the correspondence. (It 
was furnished for publication in the Plimnix five or six years 
ago, by the son of the writer.) 

"St. Thomas, April 1, 1796. 
"Captain James DeWolf: 

"This will inform you of my arrival in this port safe, with seventy- 
eight well slaves. I lost two on my passage. I had sixty-two days pas- 
sage. I received your letter and orders to draw bills on thirty days' 
sight, but I have agreed to pay in slaves — two men slaves at twenty- 
eight Joes,* and one boy at twenty-five Joes and another at twenty Joes. 
I found times very bad on the coast. Prime slaves are one hogshead 

* The Joe or Johannes is a gold coin of Portug-al, named for King John, whose 
image it bears. Its present value is eig-ht dollars. 



THE SLAVE-TRADE. 351 

and thirty gallons of rum or seven Joes gold, and boys one hogshead of 
rum. I left Captain Isaac Manchester at Anemebue with ninety slaves on 
board, all well. To-morrow I shall sail for Havana, agreeable to your 
orders, I shall do the best I can, and without other orders load with 
molasses and return to Bristol. 

" I remain your friend and humble servant, 

"Jekejiiau Diman^." 

The Legislature of South Carolina opened the ports of that 
State for the importation of African slaves in 1804. They 
remained open for four years, and during that period 202 ves- 
sels, with nearly 40,000 negroes on board, entered the harbor of 
Charleston. The election of James DeWolf to the United 
States Senate, sixteen years afterward, brought out some in- 
teresting statistics which might otherwise have escaped no- 
tice. It should be remarked here, that while the name of De- 
Wolf rises most naturally to the lips when the part which 
Bristol took in the slave-trade is spoken of, yet the De Wolfs 
were by no means the only persons interested in the traffic. 
The men of that family were most prominently concerned in 
it, and made the most money by it ; consequently, their con- 
nection with the business is remembered, while that of their 
less conspicuous associates is lost sight of. 

One of the Senators from South Carolina, Judge Smith, 
delivered the speech from which the figures that follow are 
taken. The question whether Missouri should be admitted 
as a slave state was then under discussion. In the North pub- 
lic opinion concerning slavery had greatly changed since 1808, 
and in parts of the South, even, the subject was beginning to 
be looked at in a different light. In South Carolina, the 
chief of the Slave States, very little change had come over the 
minds of the great mass of the people ; but the leading plant- 
ers, who formed the governing class, had begun to realize that 
there was a distinction — mysterious and subtle, but yet far- 
reaching — to be drawn between the man who, in other days, 
in a perfectly legitimate business upon which the world had not 
frowned, had ventured his fortune upon the ocean and exposed 
his life to the dangers of equatorial hurricanes and the deadly 
dews of Africa, — and the more fortunate being, whose life of 



352 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

contented ease was supported by the labor of slaves pur- 
chased without a hint of risk, or of danger. This haughty 
assumption of superiority did much to widen the breach that 
was opening between the North and the South, and to pre- 
cipitate the contest from whose throes the country has only 
just emerged. 

Judge Smith in his speech reflected severely upon the bit- 
terness the people of Rhode Island had lately shown against 
slaveholders, and especially against the admission of Missouri 
as a slave state. " This, however, he believed could not be the 
temper or opinion of the majority, from the late election of 
James DeWolf as a member of the Senate, as he had accu- 
mulated an immense fortune by the slave-trade." He went on 
to show, that of the two hundred and two vessels whose names 
he gave, " ten and their African cargoes belonged to Mr. De- 
Wolf." This recapitulation closed his speech : — 

Eecapitulation of the African Trade, and by what Nations Supported 
FROM 1st January, 1804, to 31st December, 1807. 



Vessels belonging- to Charleston, . 


61 


Vessels belonging to Sweden, . . 


1 


" " " Rhode Island, . 


59 


" " " Great Britain, 


. TO 


" " " Baltimore, 


4 


" " " France, . . 


3 


" " Boston, . . . 


1 




— 


" Norfolk, . . 


'^ 




202 


>' " " Connecticut, . 


1 






Consignees, natives of Charleston, 


13 


Consignees, natives of France, 


. 10 


'♦ '^ " Rhode Island, 


88 




— 


" " " Great Britain, 


91 




203 



Slaves Imported at Charleston, from the 1st January, 1804, to the 31st 
December, 1807, and by what Nation. 

British, 19,949 

French, 1,078 

21,037 
In Americmi Vessels. 

Charleston, S. C, 7,733 

Of this number there belonged to foreigners, .... 5,717 5,717 



Leaving imported by merchants and 
Planters of Charleston and vicin- 
ity, 2,000 

Bristol, 3,914 1 



Newport, 3,488 

Providence, 556 

Warren, 380 j 
Baltimore, 750 



[ Rhode Island, 8,338 



Savannah, 


300 


Norfolk, 


387 


Hartford, 


250 


Boston, 


200 


Philadelphia, 


200 


New Orleans, 


100 



26,744 



12,331 
39,075 



THE SLAVE-TRADE. 353 

In 1808 the African slave-trade was prohibited by law, and 
very shortly after that time the leading nations of the world 
united in efforts to suppress it. But because it immediately 
became more profitable than it ever had been before, men still 
continued to engage in it. Then came the " horrors of the 
Middle Passage," the recital of which even now curdles the 
blood. The old, easy-going, and comparatively comfortable 
vessels of former years were abandoned, because unsuited to 
the changed conditions of the business. Ships built only for 
speed took their places. Into their shallow holds hundreds of 
human beings were remorselessly thrust, and over the stifling 
mass inhuman owners did not hesitate to draw the hatches 
whenever the dreaded men-of-war came in sight. The sicken- 
ing details need not be mentioned here. It was the fiendish 
cruelty of those voyages which drew upon the accursed traffic 
the execrations of the whole civilized world, and which cov- 
ered those who had formerly engaged in the business with a 
load of opprobrium they did not deserve. With those voyages 
the name of Bristol should not be connected. 

23 



Chapter xliv. 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

1854-1880. 

On the twentieth day of May, 1854, three days after his 
ordination to the priesthood, the Rev, Michael McCallion was 
appointed pastor of Warren and Bristol, by the Rt. Rev. 
Bishop O'Reilly, of Hartford. In Warren a little chnrch had 
been erected to accommodate the small congregation which 
his predecessors upon the mission station. Fathers Daly, 
Moore, Mallon, Tucker, and Lamb had gathered together. 
In Bristol the same clergymen had occasionally officiated, 
but no church had been erected, and the few scattered fami- 
lies could hardly be called a congregation. 

The appointments to the parishes of the Roman Catholic 
Church, are made upon a system very different from that 
which prevails in other religious bodies. The connection be- 
tween the pastor and his flock is meant to be a permanent 
one. It cannot be dissolved at the will of the people. The 
bishop of the diocese confers the appointment, and he alone 
has the power to dissolve the pastoral relation. Thus a parish 
priest who does his duty, is very rarely called upon to change 
his field of labor, unless he has manifested abilities which en- 
title him to much higher preferment in the church. Very 
rarely do the pastors themselves care to make a change. Con- 
tinual residence gives them opportunities for influence which 
itinerating ministers are seldom able to acquire. 

Father McCallion is a native of Ireland. He was educated 
at the Sulpician College in Montreal, and the Theological Sem- 
inary in Baltimore. Immediately after receiving his appoint- 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



355 




ment he began his 
labors in the field to 
which he felt that his 
life's work had been 
allotted. The Warren 
church had already 
become well estab- 
lished, and in that 
town, therefore, he 
fixed his residence. 
Bi-istol was to be for 
many years simply a 
mission station. On 
the first Sunday he 
was permitted to cele- 
brate Mass in the 
Town Hall, but the 
use of that edifice was 
afterwards denied him, and he was obliged to hold services in 
private houses. The fact that " Know-nothingism " at that 
time held sway in the town, may, perhaps, account for this 
display of religious illiberality. Very different was the treat- 
ment which had been accorded to Bishop Cheverus, the first 
Roman Catholic who is recorded to have preached in this town,* 
as this account from one who heard him testifies. Bishop 
Cheverus came to this town to visit a French family in 1817. 

" Bishop Griswold, learning of his visit here, at once called upon hira 
and the visit was reciprocated. He was invited to preach in St. Michael's 
Church and notice thereof was promulgated. It was in the spring of 
that year, and if my memory serves me right was shortly after Easter. I 
was a lad at the time, and accompanied my grand-parents to the Church. 
The audience was quite large, drawn together chiefly by motives of cux'i- 
osity. The services were held at 11 o'clock. Bishop Cheverus was a 
small man, rather below the medium size, dressed in black, and wore an 



St. Mary's Church. 



* " From the Baptismal Register of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in Boston, 
we learn that occasional visits were made by Rev. Drs. Matignon and Cheverus to 
the town of Bristol, as early as 1811 and 1812, where the childi-eu of certain French- 
Americans were baptised; at which time, no doubt, the few Catholic residents 
had Mass, and received the other consolations of their religion." — Ecv. James Fit- 
ton's Slietches of the EstahliKhmcnt of the (Jfnireh in New Enolanci, page 213. 



356 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

outside cloak with a small cape, the fashion of those days. He spoke in 
a rapid tone, but distinctly, and his sermon was listened to with great 
attention. Bishop Cheverus spent several days in this town, during which 
he visited the leading families and was received with marked atten- 
tion." * From the Bristol Phoenix. 

The erection of St. Mary's Church was commenced in Au- 
gust, 1855 ; on the second Sunday of the following October 
the edifice was dedicated. It was a plain wooden building, 
with no architectural pretensions, having seating accommo- 
dations for about five hundred people. It served the parish 
for about fifteen years. In the year 1870 the congregation 
had far outgrown the accommodations of the church building, 
and its enlargement became absolutely necessary. Yery great 
changes were therefore made, and its seating capacity was 
nearly doubled. Extensive improvements in decoration and 
furnishing made it one of the most beautiful of the country 
churches in the diocese. The cost of the changes and addi- 
tions was about $16,000, a very large sum for so poor a con- 
gregation to raise. 

Sept. 4, 1870, the church was dedicated by Bishop Mac- 
Farland ; the Rev. Mr. McCallion, the pastor, the Rev. Charles 
J. Rogers, then a deacon, and ten other clergymen taking part 
in the services. In his address to the congregation at that 
time, the bishop made use of these words : " I congratulate 
you, my dear children, on the accomplishment of the, for you, 
great work which we now see before us — the improvement 
of your church. At first I thought that your good pastor and 
yourselves had made a mistake in building your church too 
large ; but I doubt not, after all, that it will be here as in the 
other missions of the diocese, ere long too small to accom- 
modate yourselves and the influx of Catholics. The growth 
of our church has been exceedingly great, particularly in 
this diocese. Fifty years since. Catholicity was almost un- 
known in Rhode Island and Connecticut, the present diocese. 

* Bishop Cheverus was remarkable for his humility and charitable labors. He 
became a cherished friend of Bishop Griswold, whom he much resembled in char- 
acter. He was afterwards recalled to France and appointed Bishop of Montauban 
by Louis XVIII. In 1828 he was made Archbishop of Bordeaux and Peer of France, 
and in 1836 became a Cardinal. 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 357 

There were then only three Catholic families in both states. 
In 1828, forty-two years ago, there was but one Catholic 
Church in the whole diocese. Now there are in the diocese 
of Hartford,* 200,000 Catholics, 100 churches, and a priest 
to attend to each church." 

The Bristol church remained an out-mission of Warren 
until 1874. In that year it became an independent parish, of 
which the Rev. Charles J. Rogers was appointed resident 
pastor on the sixth day of March. That same year a resi- 
dence for the priest was built on the lot next south of 
the church. The present value of church property is about 
$30,000. St. Mary's Total Abstinence Society, founded in 
1873, has attained great strength and been productive of 
much good in the parish. The Rev. Father Rogers was born 
in Philadelphia in 1842, and is a nephew of Father McCallion. 
He was educated at Holy Cross College, Worcester, and at 
St. John's College, Pordham, graduating from the latter insti- 
tution in 1867. He studied theology at St. Joseph's Theo- 
logical Seminary, Troy ; was ordained sub-deacon by Cardinal 
McCloskey, deacon by Bishop Williams, of Portland, and 
priest by Bishop Conroy, of Albany. Dec. 17, 1870, he 
became his uncle's assistant in the parish of Warren and 
Bristol, serving as such until his appointment to the pastor- 
ship of St. Mary's Church, Bristol. 

* In 1872 the Diocese of Proxidence was set off from the old Diocese of Hartford, 
and the Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken was made its bishop. 



Chapter xlv. 



THE ROLL OF HONOR. 

To prepare a complete and accurate list of the names of the 
Bristol men who served in the Army and Navy during the late 
war is almost an impossibility. It is not in the nature of man 
to be accurate respecting names, residences, and regiments. 
Some of the names enrolled upon the books of the town do 
not appear in the Adjutant- GeneraPs Report. The town- 
books, on the other hand, contain no record of many soldiers 
whom the Adjutant-General of Rhode Island credits to Bris- 
tol. From these two sources only, this roll has been made out. 
Many names besides ought, doubtless, to appear, but no others 
are found upon the two sets of books. The army record is 
confined entirely to Rhode Island regiments. The number 
of his regiment is given after the soldier's name. The names 
of those who (according to the records of the State of Rhode 
Island) died in the service are printed in italics. Of the 
regiments here represented, the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, 
Seventh, Fourteenth, First Light Artillery, and First, Second 
and Third Cavalry were enlisted for three years. Most of 
them were reorganized at the expiration of that time; the 
greater portion of their men re-enlisted and were still re- 
tained in the service. The Eleventh and Twelfth regiments 
served for nine months. Three months was the term of 
service of the First, Ninth and Tenth regiments, and the 
First and Tenth Light Batteries. It is entirely unnecessary 
to specify the battles in which the different regiments were en- 




Ambrose E. Burnside, 

U. S. SENATOR. 



THE ROLL OF HONOR, 



359 



gaged. In the office of the Rhode Island Secretary of State 
the reader may derive full information upon that subject. 



Ambrose E. Buknside, Colonel of First Kegiment, May 2, 1861 ; Briga- 
dier-General, Aug. 6, 1861; Major-General, March 18, 1862; Commander 
of the Department of North Carolina; Commander of the Ninth Army 
Corps; Commander of the Army of the Potomac; Commander of the 
Department of Ohio; resigned April 15, 1865. 



John H. Adams, 4th. 

George Alger, nth. 

Edward Anthony, Jr., 7th. 

Jacob Babbitt, 10th, 7th. Major. 

Samuel Bagnall, 12th. 

John A. Balcolm, 3d. 

Charles H. Ballon. 

D. S. Ballon, Navy. 

Albert Barnes, 1st Cavalry. 

Leonard B. Barnes, oth. 

Archibald Bell, 5th. 

Adams J. Bennett, 12th. 

George Blackwell, 3d Cavalry. 

Leonard B. Blake, 12th. 

Gilbert S. Bliss, 12th. 

Lewis S. Bliss, 7th. 

Wm. J. Booth, 12th. 

Lyman B. Bosworth, 2d. 

Frank G. Bourne, 2d. 

Amasa "SV. Bowen, 2d. 

"Wanton O. Bowers, Navy. 

"Wm. J. Bradford, 2d. Lieut. Adjt. 

Wm. L. Bradford, 2d. 

Isaac Brayley, 5th. 

Francis T. Briglitman, 5th. 

John Bromley, 3d Cavalry. 

John Brown, 2d. 

Wm. Brown, 4tb. 

Charles H. Bullock, 2d. 

James F. Bullock, 5th. 

John S. Bullock, 3d. 

"Wm. H. Bullock, 2d. Lieut. 

Wm. B. Burns, 2d. 

George A. Bush, 2d. 

Henry F. Bush, 2d. 

Thomas F. Cahill, 5th. 

Henry F. Card, 5th. 

James T. Card, 7th. 

Daniel Cavanaugh. 

Amos B. Chace, 2d, 1st Cavalry. 

Vincent Chace, 4th. 



Samuel E. Chaffee, 2d. 
Stephen B. Chaffee, 7th. 
Thomas D. Chaffee, 7th. 
Edwin B. Church, 12th. 
Wm. A. Church, 12th. 
Robert Clough, 5th. 
Isaac iV. Cobb, 2d. 
John S. Coggeshall, Battery C. 
Wm. M. Coit, 2d, H. G. 
George G. Cole, 2d. 
Henry J. Cole, 2d. 
Luther Cole, Jr., 9th, 12th. Lieut. 
Samuel B. Cole, 9th. 
William Collins, 7th. 
Giles S. Congdon, 3d. 
Henry R. Congdon, 3d. 
Richmond Daggett, Navy. Act. En- 
sign. 
Isaac Dakir, Jr. 
Isaac L. Darling, 12th. 
Wm. J. Darling, 12th. 
John W. Dearth, 12th. 
Thomas Decker, 1st Cavalry. 
Joseph C. DeConques, 3d Cavalry. 
James Dee, 3d Cavalry. 
Thomas Dempster, Battery E. 
Arthur Dennis, Battery C. 
Charles H. DeWolf, 10tl>- 
James A. DeWolf, 1st. 
Jas. F. DeWolf. Capt. Com. Dept. 
Wm. H. DeWolf, 1st. 
Wm. H. DeWolf, Navy. Act. Master. 
Wm. R. DeWolf, 14th. 
George Dill, H. G. 
George W. Diman, 12th. 
H.'H.:Doty. 
Charles Douglas, 1st. 
George H. Douglas, 12th. 
Horace F. Drake, Battery G. 
James Duffee, Jr., 2d, 12th. 
Thomas Duffee, 12th. 



360 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 



Freeborn C. Dunbar, 12th. 

George P. Dunbar, 2d. 

John A. Dunbar, 4th. 

Robert R. Dunbar, 12th. 

Wm. F. Dunbar, 2d. 

Andrew Durfee, 5th. 

Wm. Dwyer, 12th. 

Gardner Easterbrooks, Jr., 12th. 

George Easterbrooks, Navy. 

Geo. T. Easterbrooks, 2d. Lt. Capt. 

Moses P. Easterbrooks, 2d, Navy. 

Philip Easterbrooks, 2d. 

"Wm. H. Easterbrooks, 4th, 7th. 

Wni. H. Easterbrooks, ii., 5th. 

Wm. W. Eddy, 10th. 

David Farnsworth, 5th. 

Robert Farnsworth, 5th. 

Eugene A. Fish, 5th. 

Rufus Fish, 1st Cavalry. 

Stephen F. Fish, 4th. 

Henry W. Fitts, od Cavalry. 

Thomas Fitts, 7th. 

Josej^hits Franklin, 7tli. 

Charles Freeman, 14th. 

Victor Gabriel, 3d. 

Charles DeW. Gibson, Battery H. 

14th. Lieut. 
Henry C. Gifford, 4th. 
James Gifford, Navy. 
Henry F. Gladdinf/, 4th. 
James H. Gladding, 7th. 
James N. Gladding, Jr., 7th. 
John A. C. Gladding, 4th. 
Nathaniel Gladding, 12th. 
James F. Goff, 12th. 
Isaac G orb am, 12th. 
William T. Gorham, 12th. 
Jeremiah I. Greene, 9th, 5th. 
Willard H. Greene, 12th. 
John Grimshaw, 5th. 
Mark A. Handy, 5th. 
William R. Handy, 2d, 4th. 
Nicholas C. Hatch, 12th. 
Solomon D. Hatch, 2d. 
Daniel Hazard, 12th. 
Nathan B. Heath, Navy. Act. Master, 

and Act. Lieut. 
JohnHeffernan. 12th. 
Jonathan Hilton, 5th. 
Isaac H. Hoar, 3d Cavalry. 
James Hoard, Jr., 7th. 
Frank Hornung, 12th. 



Royal D. Horton, 11th. 
George Howard, 4th. 
James H. Hyde, 12th. 
George S. Ingraham, 2d. 
Dutee Johnson, 5th. Lieut. 
PelegG. Jones, 7th. 
Frank Keating, 2d. 
John Keating, 12th. 
Robert Keating, 2d. 
Frank V. Kelley. 
Alonzo Kenney, 2d. 
Pardon T. Kenney, 12th. 
Samuel Kinder, Jr., 12th. 
William Kinder, 5th. 
George H. King, 7th, 3d Cavalry. 
Cassander Kingman, 12th. 
Cassander Kingman, Jr., 2d. 
Sanford H. Kingsley, 1st. 
Walter B. Kingsley, 1st, Navy. Mu- 
sician. 
Daniel G. Lake, 2d. 
Jonathan Lake, 5th. 
John Lawrence, 2d. 
William J. Lawton, 5th, 
George A. Leonard, 7th. 
Jaiyies E. Lewis, 2d. 
John P. Lindsey,5th. 
William F. Lindsey, 5th. 
Byron D. Liscomb, 5th. 
Isaac F. Liscomb. 
Theodore Livesey, 4th. 
Edward Lowder, 2d. 
James Lowrey, 5th. 
Lorenzo V. Ludwig, 5th. 
Hiram Luther, Jr., 12th. 
Jeremiah Luther, Jr., 2d. 
Alex. H. Manchester, 7th. 
George B. Manchester, 12th. 
Isaac B. Manchester, 7th. 
James D. Manchester, 2d. 
Jos. S. Manchester, 2d, 7th. Lieut. 
Henry Warland, 2d. 
Barney F. Martin, 12th. 
William M. Martin, 2d. 
James Mason, Navy. 
James A. Mason, 12th. 
Jacob Mattison, H. G. 
George H. Marfield, 2d. 
George W. Maxfield, 2d. 
Caleb Mayhew, 12th. 
Charles H. V.Maj'o, 1st Batt ., 7th. 
Hugh McCabe, Battery H. 



THE ROLL OF HONOR. 



361 



Richard McCartney, 12th. 

James McGee, 2d. 

John McGregor, 2d, 

A. F. Mclntijre, Navy. 

James Mclntyre, 5th. 

Samuel McKay, 2d. 

Edward M. Meiggs, 5th. 

JohnR. Meiggs, 7th. 

Abraham Meyers, 4th. 

Edward B. Meyers, 1st Cavalry. 

George "W. Meyers, 1st Cavalry. 

Benjamin F. Miller, 7th. 

William A. Miller, 4th. 

Benjamin B. Morris, 2d. 

Joseph N. Morris, 7th. 

Owen V. Morris, 3d Cavalry. 

Allen B. Mott, 4th. 

George F. Munro, 12th . 

Samuel Munro, Jr. 

Allen M. Munro, 2d. 

Benjamin S. Muuroe, Battery A. 

Fitz E. W. Munroe, 12th. 

Francis Munroe, 7th. 

Win. H. Munroe, 2d, 12th. 

George T. Mutton, 2d, 12th. 

Allen M. Newman, Navy. Act. Mast. 

John S. Newman, 2d. 

Simeon A. Newman, 2(i. 

Edward T. Nichols, 0th. 

Michael Noon, 1st, 2d. 

William H. Northup, 7th. 

Jeremiah O'Brien, 5th. 

John G. O'Connor, 2d. 

Jeremiah O'Shea, 5th. 

Charles F. Page, 7th. Lt. and Adjt. 

Alfred Peabody, 2d. 

Frederic Peabody, 2d. 

James T. Pearce, 1st, 3d. 

Walter Pearce, Navy. Act. Ensign. 

Wm. F. Pearse, 12th. 

George H. Peck, 2d, H. G. 

Benjamin Peckham, 7th. 

Raymond H. Perry, Battery B. Lieut, 

3d Cavalry. Captain, Major. 
Sylvester Perry, Cavalry. 
James T. Phelps, 7th. Lieut. 
Allen Pierce, 7th. 
Alonzo Pierce, 12th. 
Cornelius C. Pierce, 2d. 
George M. Pierce, 1st Cavalry. 
Henry C. Pierce, 2d. 
John Potter, 7th. 



Frank T. Ramiers, 7th 

Joseph Redfern, 5th. 

William H. Richmond, Navy. Act. 
Master. 

Gilbert Richmond, Navy. Act. Mas- 
ter. 

Lewis Richmond, Staff officer. Capt., 
Maj., Lieut.-Col., Adjt.-Gen. 

George Ridgeway, 5th. 

John H. Robbins, 14th. 

Richard Rose, Battery E. Navy. 

Wm. Ro.se, Navy. 

John W. Rothwell, 1st Cavalry. 

Wm. Savage, 5th. 

Joseph A. Seymour, 7th. 

George R. Shaw, 12th. 

David Shawcross, 5th. 

Ezra H. Sherman, 7th. 

William A. Sherman, 2d. 

Robert Shippee, 2d. 

Rufus Shippee, 2d. 

William J Shippee, 4th, 7th. 

Simon M. Sidlinger, 2d, Batt. A. 

Geo. W. Simmons, 12th. 

Henry F. Simmons, 2d. Lieut. 

Samuel C. Simmons, 12th. 

Thomas Simpkins, 5th. 

Gardner W. Sisson, 5th. 

Richard Skinner, 1st Cavalry. 

Geo. Slade, 12th. 

George F. Smith, 12th. 

Theodore H. Smith, 12th. 

Joseph B. Sparks, 2d. 

Edward W. Spencer, 12th. 

George A. Spencer, 7th. 

George W. Stetson, 12th. 

Henry L. Sutton, Battery D. 

Samuel O. Swan, Navy. 

Thomas Swan, Jr., 1st. 

Ferdinand Sweet, 4th. 

John B. Sweet, 7th. 

George H. Tence, 3d. 

William Tepper, 2d Cavalry. 

Henry Thiele, 12th. 

John A. Thompson, 2d. 

Edwin H. Tilley, 12th, 

Robert Toye, 2d. 

John Turner, 12th. Adjt. 

Thomas F. Usher, 2d. Lieut. 

Thomas F. Vaughn, 1st. 

John G. Vicars, 12th. 

Alfred B. Waldron, 1st. H. G. 



362 



HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 



Charles A. "Waldron, 2d. Lieut. 
■William H. Waldron, 1st, 12th. 
James D. Wardwell, Jr., 12th. 
Josiah S. Warren, 2d. 
Wallace F. Warren, 2d. 
George W. Weeden, 2d. 
Henry M. Weeden, Battery D. 
Clark Whitford, 7th. 
John F. Whitford. 
Moses G. Whitney, 5th. 
Albert Wilkie, Navy. 
George E. Wilkinson, 5th. 
James F. Wilkinson, 2d. 



Abel Willis, Jr., 7th. 

Andrew Wilmarth, 5th. 

Franklin E. Wilmarth, oth. 

Horace Wilmarth, 5th. 

Joseph M. Wilmarth, ith. 

Nathan B. Wilmarth, Battery. 

John G. Wilson, 2d. 

John D. Wingate, 3d, Navy. Act. 

Ensign. 
Henry Winseman, 7th. 
William Winterbottom, 3d Cavalry. 
Allen G. Wright, 5th. Captain. 



Chapter xlvi. 



TRINITY CHURCH. 

1875-1880. 

Trinity Church, Bristol, owes its existence mainly to the 
pious beneficence of a former communicant of St. Michael's 
Church, Mrs. Ruth B. DeWolf. Mrs. DeWolf died in 1874. In 
her will she directed that the greater part of a very consider- 
able estate should be given to the parish " next and first or- 
ganized according to the usages, principles, and canons of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and the 
Diocese of Rhode Island." One condition of the gift was, 
that the pews or seats of the church edifice which miglit be 
erected, should not be sold or rented for a longer time than 
one year, the wish of the testator being that the church might 
be " maintained as nearly as possible on the ' Free Seat ' sys- 
tem ; " another was, that the parish should be organized and 
admitted to the Convention of the diocese before any real 
estate should be conveyed to it. 

Feb. 16, 1875, a meeting was held for the purpose of organ- 
izing a parish which should acquire possession of the property 
thus devised. A constitution and by-laws having been adopted, 
and parish officers chosen, a committee was appointed to ac- 
quaint the bishop of tlie diocese with what had been done, 
and to request him to bring the matter before the Standing 
Committee. Measures were also taken to procure a charter 
for the parish from the General Assembly. April 7, 1875, 
at a meetino; of the Standinor Committee of the Diocese of 



364 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

Rhode Island, it was " Voted, That the Standing Committee 
give their consent to the organization of Trinity Church, Bris- 
tol, whenever the vestry of the proposed parish shall make 
such provision for the security of the property from which, by 
the will of Mrs. DeWolf, they are to derive benefit, as shall 
be satisfactory to the trustees therein named, and shall be so 
certified by the trustees to the Secretary of the Standing Com- 
mittee." The necessary provisions were quickly made, and 
at a meeting of the wardens and vestry of the parish, held 
April 27, 1875, a letter from the bishop was read, in which 
" acting in accordance w4th the advice and consent of the 
Standing Committee," he consented to the organization of 
the church. 

The first service was held on Whitsun-day, 1875, in the 
" Odd Fellows Hall " on Bradford Street, the Rev. Dr. Henry 
Waterman, formerly rector of St. Stephen's Church, Provi- 
dence, being the officiating clergyman. The first officers of the 
parish, elected after the charter was obtained, were : Wardens 
— Henry C. Sayles and Robert P. Tiernan ; Vestrymen — 
LeBaron Bradford, Ellery W. Greene, Edward M. Spooner, 
William D. Skinner, Robert Murray, Robert Lawder, Edward 
A. Blake, Thomas Henderson, and John P. Reynolds. No 
rector was chosen during the first two years, but services were 
regularly held each Sunday by several clergymen. 

In 1876 the church was admitted into union with the 
Convention of the diocese. In the fall of that year, the Rev. 
Samuel Moran, a native of Providence, and graduate of 
St. Stephen's College, Annandale, took the charge of the 
parish, and on Easter Monday, 1877, was elected its first 
rector. In June, 1876, upon the lot at the northeast corner 
of Bradford and Hope streets, where Mrs. DeWolf had lived, 
the corner-stone of a church was laid, but the building was 
not really begun until All Saints' Day, 1877. In 1878 the 
edifice was completed. It is a wooden structure, 90 feet by 
38, furnished tastefully and in churchly style, and has seat- 
ing accommodations for 350 people. 

Mr. Moran resigned the rectorship in 1878, and in 1879 



TRINITY CHURCH. 



365 




Trinity Church. 

the Rev. Joseph H. Johnson was elected his successor. Mr. 
Johnson is a native of Sclienectadj, N. Y., a graduate of 
"Williams College (Class of 1870), and of the 'Greneral Theo- 
logical Seminary. From the time of his ordination to the 
ministry until his coming to Bristol, he held the charge of 
Holy Trinity Church, Highland, N. Y. Tiie church numbers 
102 communicants and is in a very flourishing condition. An 
excellent boy-choir adds much to the attractiveness of its 
services. Its officers are: Wardens — John P. Reynolds 
and H. Frank Munroe. Vestrymen — Henry C. Sayles, 
Henry F. Card, J. Russell Bullock, Charles V. Perry, Wil- 
liam R. Trotter, Thomas G. Holmes, John H. H. Mott, 
William F. Williams, and Darwin Almy. 



Chapter xlvii. 



SOME DETAILS RESPECTING THE COMMERCE. 

The reader possibly imagines that definite and accurate in- 
formation respecting tlie commerce of Bristol may easily be 
obtained from the official books. This is by no means the 
case. The official records are almost entirely inaccessible, 
completely so to one whose time for examining them is lim- 
ited to a few short months. Until the year 1801 Bristol was 
included in the Newport Customs District. To that city, 
therefore, one must go for the facts desired. In the loft of 
its Custom House the enthusiastic inquirer is pointed to a 
huge pile of boxes and told that there is the information he 
seeks. The boxes are not marked, and no memorandum of 
their contents has been preserved. Only by a most careful 
examination of each one could the wished for information be 
obtained. Though the courteous official obligingly places the 
loft at your disposal, the shrinking spirit recoils in dismay 
from the undertaking. After the Revolutionary War, and be- 
fore Rhode Island became a member of the American Union, 
a large amount of interesting matter was embalmed in the 
books of the General Treasurer. The reader is respectfully 
referred to a number of old-fashioned trunks, in the loft of 
one of the buildings rented by the State in the city of Provi- 
dence, for information concerning tliat period in the town's 
commercial history. Before the Bristol Custom House was 
built, the zealous attention of some former Collector secured 
the preservation of such papers and books as the flames of a 
private house had not already devoured, by packing them in 



SOME DETAILS RESPECTING THE COMMERCE. 367 

various boxes, etc., and bestowing them in a loft upon Thames 
Street. There they still remain. In the Custom House only 
the invoice books are preserved, and in them the cargoes dis- 
charged at Warren are not particularly designated. The in- 
formation given in this chapter must, therefore, be general 
rather than specific. 

Very soon after its settlement Bristol began to engage in 
commerce with the West Indies and the Spanish Main. Men- 
tion of the first recorded shipment has already been made on 
page 111. Many such followed it before the year 1700 was 
reached. In 1690 fifteen vessels engaged in foreign commerce 
were owned by Bristol citizens. The number gradually and 
steadily increased until, just before the Revolution, the name 
of the town was borne upon the sterns of fifty vessels. They 
were usually of small size, and very many of them were sloops. 
It was tlie age of little vessels, and these sloops were more 
frequently sent upon voyages to Europe and the coast of Af- 
rica, than our largest schooners are now employed for the 
same service. We look back with amazement upon men who 
were willing to expose their lives to the ocean-storms on 
board such feeble shallops, but those very men might possi- 
bly deem it foolliardy to brave a hurricane in tlie unwieldy 
vessels in which the nineteenth century delights. 

Various kinds of produce, pickled fish, horses, sheep, etc., 
made up the cargo upon the outward voyage. Coffee, molas- 
ses, sugar, rum, and tropical fruits were brought back. In 
1691, Deacon Bosworth shipped on board the sloop "Dol- 
phin," 540 ropes of onions, which had been raised upon his 
farm. The cultivation of this vegetable was for years one of 
the chief industries of the town ; as many as 100,000 bushels 
having sometimes been sent to market in the course of a year. 

During the first half of the eighteenth century, and until the 
Revolution, considerable capital was invested in the whale 
fishery, though the business was conducted upon a plan very 
different from that which was followed a hundred years later. 
In the early days of the colonies whales sometimes entered 
Narragansett Bay, and almost all of them were taken by 



368 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

means of the " shore fisheries," i. e., the boats would be sent 
out from the shore in pursuit, whenerer a " school " came in 
sight. Sloops and little schooners were afterward placed in 
the business. In 1775, perhaps fifty whaling vessels were 
sent out from Rhode Island ports. Some of these were of 
course owned in Bristol, but how many cannot be ascer- 
tained. Upon the town records of that period, mention of 
" whaleboats " is very common. The war with Great Britain 
broke up the fisheries, and when peace came the whales 
were no longer found near the coast, having gone to other 
feeding-grounds. In 1795, the only whaler in the State was 
the " Ranger," a brig (or snow, the term brig was then 
frequently applied to snow-rigged vessels), of 122 tons. It 
was owned in Providence. Very few whaling vessels besides 
were employed in the country, and Massachusetts owned 
them all. 

In 1801, the Bristol Customs District was set off from the 
Newport District, and Jonathan Russell was appointed its 
first Collector. Until the beginning of the present century 
the firm of Bourne & Wardwell had been most prominently 
identified with the commerce of the town. At one time they 
are said to have owned forty-two vessels. The first cargo 
entered upon the invoice book of the new district was that 
of the schooner " Isaac," John Weir, master, from Port 
Antonio, Jamaica. She was consigned to the master, and 
John W. Bourne ; brought 9,334 gallons of 3d and 4th 
proof rum, and six hogsheads of sugar, and paid $3,464.23 
duty. During the first twenty-five years, 1,262 foreign ar- 
rivals, an average of fifty each year, were entered upon 
the books. The largest number entered in any one year 
was ninety-six, in 1810 ; the smallest was nineteen, in 1814 
— the worst year of the last war with Great Britain. The 
sum total of duties paid during that period was $2,369,- 
424.33, an average of $94,776.97 each year. In 1813 the 
largest amount was paid into the Treasury, $152,966.04 (the 
cargo of the " Francis," prize to the " Yankee," was charge- 
able with a goodly portion of that sum) ; in 1801 was paid 



soMK dp:tails rkspkcting the comivieuce. 



369 




Residence of Mr. Samuel P. Colt. 



the smallest amount, $29,375.10. Very few cities in the Union 
could present such a record, tliough the population of the 
town during those years never exceeded 3,200. Some of the 
vessels entered each year discharged their cargoes in Warren, 
but the share of that town in that great business Avas com- 
paratively small. Its greatest ventures upon the ocean were 
made in after years in the whale fishery. 

The ship " Juno " brought into the harbor in 1804 the first 
cargo imported directly from China. Voyages to the " North- 
west Coast" naturally followed the trade with the "Celes- 
tial Emi)ire." A large and profitable business was also es- 
tablished witli the ports of both Northern and Southern 
Europe. The West Indian business was not neglected. An 
extensive trade with the coast of Africa was also maintained. 

The following table shows the amount of duties collected 

24 



370 ' HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

each year from 1801 to 1825 inclusive, and the number of 
vessels arriving from foreign ports : — 



1801 . 


. 23 . 


. $ 29,375 10 , 


1810 . 


. 96 . 


. .?!152,380 92 


1819 . 


. 69 . 


. $126,437 87 


1802 . 


. 41 . 


. 32,805 40 


1811 . 


. 89 . 


. 109,181 78 


1820 . 


. 50 . 


. 121,570 40 


1803 . 


. 48 . 


. 41,989 15 


1812 . 


. 55 . 


. 100,137 61 


1821 . 


. 44 


. 137,275 06 


1804 . 


. 56 . 


. 82,531 28 


1813 . 


. 30 . 


. 152,966 04 


1822 . 


. 48 . 


. 95,561 42 


1805 . 


. 56 . 


. 94,301 86 


1814 . 


. 19 . 


. 72,468 42 


1823 . 


. 47 . 


. 95,424 71 


1806 . 


. 61 . 


. 118,964 89 


1815 . 


. 33 . 


. 120,693 53 


1824 . 


. 53 . 


. 111,116 64 


1807 . 


. 43 . 


. 61,743 23 


1816 . 


. 48 . 


. 78,543 97 


1825 . 


. 42 . 


. 98,821 73 


1808 . 


. 48 . 


. 91,349 95 


1817 . 


. 53 . 


. 74,095 28 








1809 . 


. 42 . 


. (56,022 40 


1818 . 


. 68 . 


. 103,665 69 









When we reflect that a corresponding number of coasting 
vessels were also ehiployed, — a number much greater, it 
must be remembered, in those pre-railroad days than would 
now be needed, — some idea of the busy harbor of those years 
can easily be formed. 

The name of DeWolf is most frequently seen upon the 
Custom House books of that period. James DeWolf was the 
leading merchant of the town ; William DeWolf, Charles 
DeWolf, and George DeWolf, each carried on a widely ex- 
tended business. The erection of the houses of James De- 
Wolf at " the Mount," William DeWolf upon Poppasquash, 
and George DeWolf * upon Hope Street, marked the success 
that attended their commercial enterprises. At one time 
George DeWolf seemed destined to surpass his uncle, James, 
in wealth, but reverses came, and swept away his fortune. 
His failure almost paralyzed the town. 

After the year 1825 the commerce of the port began 
slowly, though steadily, to decline. Tlie renewal of the whale 
fishery had mucli to do with this. About that time the first 
ship was fitted out to start upon a whaling voyage. It made 
a very successful cruise, and others were at once placed in 
the business. In 18S7 the arrival of sixteen vessels " from a 
whaling cruise," is recorded. Perhaps half of these belonged 
in Warren. The Bristol whaling fleet that year numbered 
nineteen vessels. This is the list given in the Bristol 
Phoenix : — 



* Now owned and occupied by his grandson, Mr. S. P. Colt. 



SOME DETAILS RESPECTING THE COMMERCE. 



371 



Ganges 380 

Milton 388 

Geu. Jackson 329 

America 258 

Bowditch 399 

Canton Packet 312 

Corinthian 503 

Anne 223 



Roger "Williams 285 

Leonidas. 353 

Balance 322 

Essex 201 

L. C. Richmond 341 

Gov. Fenner 376 

Fama 363 

Gov. Hopkins Ill 



Sarah Lee 236 

Golconda 360 

Troy 156 

Metacom — 



5,896 



The business began to decline before the discovery of gold 
in California, but the gold fever gave it its death-blow. Many 
of the old merchant vessels that had been converted into 
whale-ships took a cargo of gold-hunters safely around Cape 
Horn, and were then suffered to go to pieces upon the 
shoals of the " Back Bay," near San Francisco.* 

The West India business ceased when the firm of A. T. & 
T. J. Usher was dissolved in 1873. At present the town has 
no foreign commerce. Its capital is almost entirely invested 
in manufactures. It has still a small coasting fleet. Twenty- 
seven vessels, ten steamers, and seventeen sailing craft hail 
from the port. They are mostly of very light tonnage. Only 
two of the steamers are over 100 tons burden. The largest 
vessel is the three-masted schooner Charles S. Bayliss, of 
466.95 tons. The accompanying table, showing the ton- 
nage, enrolled and licensed, of the Bristol district, from 
1816 to 1861, was furnished from the office of the Secretary 
of the Treasury at Washington. How much of this amount 
of shipping was owned in Bristol cannot well be ascertained. 
It will, perhaps, be safe to assume, that up to the year 1840, 
two-thirds of the vessels of the district hailed from this port ; 
and that after that year one-half of the aggregate amount of 
tonnage should be charged to Warren. 



* In 1871 the writer saw upon the " Back Bay Lands," peering out from the sand 
that had been heaped around, the slowly decaying timbers of an old ship, with 
Bristol, R. I.| faintly visible upon her stern. 



372 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 



Date 
Year. 



1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 
1826 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 
1835 
1836 
1837 
1838 
1839 



Enrolled 
Registered i and 
Ton. j Licensed 
Ton. 



5,874.16 I 
6,388.40 I 
7,607.21 
7,650.12 ' 
6,610.64 
7,034.12 I 
6,717.20 
6,877.81 
7,068.03 
6,500.89 , 
6,598.77 1 
7,604.24 I 
8,330.85 I 
8,228.42 
6,654.84 
7,167.68 1 
10,747.75 
13,318.47 : 
13,850.38 
14,960.78 
13,901.84 I 
13,134.70 
10,301.68 



1,008.86 
4.285.63 
1,089,03 
1,322.22 
1,366.21 
1,804.06 
1,535.15 
866.90 
995.46 
1,882.64 
2,612.03 
2,841.64 
3,259.10 
2,968.05 
1,431.83 
2,200.48 
2,131.69 
3,071.48 
3.160.23 
2,716.59 
2,725.41 
3,212.42 
5,12L35 



Agg-regate 


Date 


of Dist. 


Year. 


6,909.33 


1840 


7.763.22 


1841 


8,759.67 


1842 


10,290.11 


1843 


8,036.32 


1844 


8,890.00 


1845 ' 


8,340.67 


[ 1846 ' 


7,771.11 


1847 


8,011.62 


1848 


8,883.58 


1849 


9,210.80 


1850 


10,513,08 


1851 


11,590.00 


1852 


13,284.00 


1853 


8,086.72 


1854 


9,.368.21 


1855 


12,879.45 


1856 


16,390.00 


1857 


17,010.61 


1858 


17,677.42 


1859 


16,276.29 1 


1860 


16,347.17 1 


1861 


16,422.08 





Registered 
Ton. 



8,893.58 
8,191.53 
9,043.58 
10,746.16 
12,454,82 
11,163.01 
13,705.67 
12,617.08 
12,715.75 
13,070.36 
11,247.12 
10,229.39 
11,464.26 
10,467.56 
12,642.76 
14,572.13 
15,282.58 
13,431.56 
14,394.43 
14,068.59 
8,399.02 
6,008.28 



Enrolled 




and 


Agg-regate 


Licensed 


of Dist. 


Ton. 




6,996.52 


15,840.15 


4,737.67 


12.929.25 


4,457.80 


13,501.43 


3,029.36 


13,775.52 


2,482.14 


14,937.00 


2,541.71 


13,704.72 


2,419.09 


16,124.76 


2,437.75 


15,087.88 


2,356.67 


15,072.47 


2,487.50 


15,557.80 


1,951.27 


13,198.39 


1,948.24 


12,177.63 


2,162.44 


13,626.70 


2,379.89 


12,847.50 


1,960.55 


14,603.30 


1,922.03 


16,499.16 


1,668.77 


16,951.40 


1,721.02 


15,152.58 


1,375.27 


15,769.70 


1,443.61 


15,512.25 


1,374.34 


9,773.36 


1,197.22 


7,205.50 



Chapter xlviii. 



THE PRUVCIPAL MANUFACTURES. 

Mention has already been made of tlie earlier manufactur- 
ing industries of the town, the grist-mills, distilleries, rope- 
walks^ etc. ; the ship-building interests were also important in 
early liistor\" and should have been noticed in tlieir proper 
place. In 1696 were built the first two vessels of which we 
have any record. They were the '•' Grampus " and the " Dol- 
phin." Like all the vessels of that period they were of very 
light tonnage. From that time forward, for more than a cen- 
tury, ships were built from time to time as the ti-ade of the 
port required, but the business did not become very brisk 
until about fifty years ago. From 1830 to 1856 perhaps sixty 
vessels were built and rigged at this port. The figures pre- 
served by the United States Treasury Department make the 
number rather larger than that, but ships built in other towns 
were probably included in the official returns. After 1856 
no vessels were constructed until the Herreshoffs began to 
build yachts and sail-boats in 1863. In ten years about two 
hundred decked vessels of various sizes were launched from 
their yard. Then the character of their business was changed ; 
since 1873 they have built steamers only. They are now 
building " .Steamer Number 73." The firm is styled the 
Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. The manufacture of 
the "• Safety Coil Boiler " is one of its specialties. Some of 
its steam-vessels have attained a speed of 22 7-8 miles an 
hour. 



374 HISTORY OP BRISTOL. 

Oil works and candle factories naturally followed invest- 
ments in whaling vessels. The first of these establishments 
began operations in 1830, or thereabouts ; others quickly fol- 
lowed it. The business was continued for a little more than 
thirty years. 

In 1836 the first cotton mill was erected. It was owned 
by the Bristol Steam Mill Company, and proved a very profit- 
able investment. In 1843 the factoiy was burned, but was at 
once rebuilt and in 1844 was again in operation. It has 
passed through various hands, and is now known as the Nam- 
quit Mill. The Richmond Manufacturing Company are its 
owners. The Pokanoket Mill, erected in 1839, is owned by 
the same company. In the two mills are 21,152 spindles and 
484 looms. These two mills in 1875, when the last State 
census was taken, reported 1,917,335 yards of print-cloth 
and 2,200,000 yards of sheetings as the amount of their 
product for that year. 

A company for manufacturing butts, hinges, and iron cast- 
ings was formed in 1844. A factory was erected upon Thames 
Street, and the business was prosecuted with varied success 
until 1852, when the buildings were burned and were not re- 
placed. 

About the year 1847 a large steam saw and planing mill 
was built upon the lot next south of the Pokanoket Mill, and 
a very extensive business was carried on for several years. 
The building was twice burned, once in 1857, and again in 
1861. It was rebuilt after the second fire, but soon after- 
wards ceased to be profitable, and was devoted to other 
uses. 

The Sugar Refinery commenced operations in 1849, and 
passed through the hands of several sets of owners with indif- 
ferent success until the late war broke out. Then sugar re- 
fining became very profitable, and continued to be so for 
many years. The factory is now owned by the Phenix Sugar 
Refining Co., but the refinery has been for a long time idle. 
It has a producing capacity of 350 barrels of sugar per day, 
and once furnished employment for 225 men. (The great 







In 



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A V 


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A 


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THK PRINCIPAL MANUFACTURES. 375 

buildings may be seen in the cut of Captain Collins' liouse 
on page 129.) 

In the building now used as a machine-shop by the Heries- 
hoff Manufacturing Company, the manufacture of breech- 
loading fire-arms was carried on for about four years by 
General Burnside. Complications then arose, and the works 
were closed in 1857. About the same time a manufactory 
of oakum was operated upon Franklin Street. In 1858 a fire 
consumed the buildings and closed up the business. 

The erection of the buildings of the National Rubber Com- 
pany was begun in 1864. Ln 1865 the machinery of the 
factory was set in motion. The various buildings, etc., cover 
about six acres of ground. Upwards of twelve hundred 
operatives are employed. All kinds of rubber goods are 
manufactured, but special attention is paid to the manufac- 
ture of boots and shoes. From five to six thousand pairs of 
these are made each day. The number can easily be doubled 
when necessity requires it. The monthly pay-roll of the com- 
pany amounts to about $35,000. The value of its annual 
product is very nearly )^2,000,000. 

These are tlie principal manufactures. According to the 
statistics of the last census (1875), there were in the town 
sixty-one manufacturing establishments. They employed 
eleven steam engines of 840 horse power, and forty-two 
steam boilers. The number of hands employed was 1,488. 
The sum paid for wages during 1875 was !t562,177 ; the value 
of materials used was $1,763,574, and 12,976,600 was the 
value of the manufactured product. 



Chapter xlix. 



GLEANINGS FROM THE EAST FIFTY YEARS. 

To a description of the events which have marked the his- 
tory of the town dnring the Last fifty years, many pages might 
easily he devoted, and yet, after all, very little demands a 
record here. Many men who were themselves a part of the 
times can still be consulted, if precise and accurate informa- 
tion is desired ; the files of the Bristol Plicenix also cover 
most of the period, and are especially ricli in local informa- 
tion. From the Phoenix and the Providence Journal^ a very 
truthful picture of the age might easily be drawn. 

When, in 1842, the State was convulsed by the contest con- 
cerning the suffrage, Thomas W. Dorr found but few adher- 
ents in this town. Its citizens rallied strongly to the side of 
the " Law and Order " party, and sent very nearly two hundred 
and fifty men to swell its ranks at Chepachet. The " Dorr 
War " is too recent an event to require discussion at this 
time. When the adoption of the new Constitution was voted 
upon by the people of the State, the vote of Bristol was : 
" For the Constitution, 341 ; against it, None." 

Nathaniel Bullock was elected lieutenant-governor of the 
State by the "Law and Order" party in 1842. He held the 
office for one year. The following sketch of his life is from 
the volume of Rhode Island biography about to be published 
by the National Biographical Publishing Co. Through the 
courtesy of Mr. J. H. Cheever, Treasurer of the Company, it 
is here inserted : — 



GLEANINGS FROM THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 377 

" Bullock, Hon. Nathaniel, Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island from 
1842 to 1843, son of Samuel and Silence (Bowen) Bullock, was born in 
Rehoboth, Mass., May 1, 1779. He was fitted for college, by Rev. Charles 
Thompson, pastor of the Baptist Church in Swansea, and teacher of a 
classical school. He was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 
1798. Immediately after his graduation he went South, and was for 
some time engaged in teaching in Charleston, S. C. During his spare 
hours he devoted himself to the study of law. In the early part of 1801 
be returned to his native State, and soon after went to Bristol, R. I., and 
became a law student in the office of Hon. Benjamin Bourne. He was 
admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in that year, and commenced the 
practice of his profession in Newport, in partnership with Hon. William 
Hunter. In the latter part of 1808, he returned to Bristol, the death of 
two eminent lawyers of that place, Judge Bourne and Governor Bradford, 
preparing the way for his professional services theie. He represented 
Bristol in the General Assembly every year, with the exception of three, 
from 1815 to 1827. In the year last mentioned, he was appointed by 
President Adams Collector of Customs for the District of Warren and 
Bristol, and held that office until August, 1880, when he resigned. In 
1838, he was the Democratic candidate for Governor, and failed of an 
election by a few votes. His name was placed on the 'Law and Order' 
ticket in 1842. and he was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of the State. At 
the time of his death, he was the oldest member of the Rhode Island 
bar. ' In soundness of judgment, in knowledge of his profession, in 
integrity of character, and in genial and kindly social qualities, he was 
the peer of the distinguished men with whom he was so long associated, 
and whom he so long survived.' The closing years of his life were spent 
in the quiet of his home, where he delighted to commune with the best 
authors, and where, especially, he took pleasure in the study of the 
Sacred Scriptures. He married, in September, 1812, Ruth, daughter of 
Stephen Smith, a merchant in Bristol, who died in November, 1829. Mr. 
Bullock died at Bristol, Nov. 18, 1807, in the eighty-ninth year of his 
age. His three sons and a daughter survive him." 

(Jovernor Bullock was. followed in office, as he had also 
been immediately preceded, by Byron Diman. INIr. Diman 
was re-elected to the lieutenant-governor's office each year 
until 1846, when he was chosen governor. Of him Mr. 
Cheever also furni.shes the following sketch : — 

" Diman, Ex-Governor Byron, eldest son of Jeremiah and Hannah 
(Luther) Diman, was born in Bristol, R. I., Aug. 5, 179."). In his youth 
he enjoyed the advantages of an excellent private school kept for many 
years by the la^e Bishop Griswold. Here, according to the testimony 
of one of his classmates, the venerable Bishop Smith, of Kentucky, he 
held the first place, his devotion to study creating a tie between teacher 
and pupil whicli was only dissolved by death. The literary tastes thus 



378 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 

early formed were cherished and developed. Up to a late period iu his 
life, he was a diligent reader, and few men not belonging to the class of 
professed students possessed more vafied and accurate information. 
He was well versed in English literature and general history, and espe- 
cially at home in topographical and antiquarian lore. At an early age he 
entered the counting-house of Hon. James DeWolf, and continued in 
the most confidential relations with that gentleman until his death, in 
1837. He engaged in the whale fishery, which at one time was largely 
prosecuted at Bristol. In various other ways he was closely identified 
with the business interests of that town. He was at one time treasurer, 
and afterward president of the Bristol Steam Mill; a director of the 
Pokanoket Mill; and for many years president of the Bank of Bristol. 
In all his business relations he was actuated by the most generous and 
forbearing spirit. The distressed applied instinctively to him for aid, 
and seldom were they refused. Mr. Diman was early and actively 
engaged in politics. He was an enthusiastic Whig of the school of 
Henry Clay. For many years he was a member of the Legislature. He 
was a delegate to the Harrisburg Convention, which nominated General 
Harrison for the Presidency. During the exciting' days of the ' Dorr 
war,' he was a member of the Governoi''s Council. When the new 
Constitution was adopted, he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and in 
1846, at the disruption of the 'Law and Order' party, he was elected 
Governor. No persuasion could induce him to hold the office longer 
than a year, and he was deaf to all solicitations to accept a higher posi- 
tion, even that of United States Senator. The only official connection 
that he retained with the State was as commissioner of the indigent 
blind, deaf and dumb. To the duties of this office he gave great atten- 
tion. He issued the call for the first meeting held in Bristol for the 
organization of the Republican party, and he gave to the policy of Presi- 
dent Lincoln a cordial and unhesitating support. He died of apo- 
plexy, at his residence in Bristol, Aug. 1, 1865. A fine portrait of 
him by Lincoln graces the chamber of the State House in Providence. 
Governor Diman was twice married ; first, to Abby Alden Wight, daugh- 
ter of Rev. Henry Wight, p. d. By this maniage there were four chil- 
dren, among whom were J. li. and H. W. Diman, both of whom grad- 
uated at Brown University. His second wife was Elizabeth Ann Lis- 
comb, the issue of this marriage being one child, who survives him." 

A native of Bristol again filled the gnbernatorial chair in 
1853. In that year Gov. Philip Allen resigned, to accept 
the office of United States Senator, and Lieut.-Gov. Francis 
M. Dimond succeeded to the post thus made vacant. A 
strangely picturesque career was that of Mr. Dimond. He 
was born in Bristol in 1796, and here, at the age of sixty- 
three, he died, but comparatively few of the years of his life 
were spent in this town. Very early in life he went to the 



GLEANINGS FROM THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 379 

Island of Cuba, and there spent several years ; for a time he 
was United States Consul at Port-au-Prince. He lived 
some years in New Orleans, and before the Mexican War, 
was Consul of tlie United States at Yera Cruz, Mexico. 
During the war his local knowledge proved exceedingly 
valuable to the United States Government. When the expe- 
dition agaiiist Vera Cruz was planned, lie was summoned to 
Washington, where his accurate memory quickly supplied 
the greatly needed chart of the Mexican harbor. Sailing from 
Havana, that he might be present at the storming of the 
city, he was shipwrecked upon the way ; for two days and 
nights he was tossed about in an open boat, and only reached 
Vera Cruz on the day after its bombardment. He neverthe- 
less entered the city with the American army, and served 
as its official interpi-eter. Until the American troops were 
withdrawn, lie was the Collector of the captured city. He 
was lieutenant-governor and governor for one year. His 
after life was mainly spent in efforts to secure the construc- 
tion of the Southern Pacific Railway. Of this railway com- 
pany he was elected president. He died in Bristol, in 18.58. 

Ex-Lieutenant-Governor and ex-Judge J. Russell Bullock 
still resides in this, his native town. 

Until the year 1830 communication with Providence was 
maintained by means of packet sloops and stage-coaches ; in 
that year the packets found their occupation gone, for a line 
of steamboats plying between Fall River and Providence, 
and stopping at Bristol on each trip, was established. Twen- 
ty-seven years later, the picturesque stage-coaches were forced 
into retirement, the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad 
having begun to run its trains in 1857. For several years a 
line of steamers, running to New York City, made this their 
eastern port of departure, but in 1869 tiiey were transferred 
to Fall River. 

For many years the possession of a certain tract of land 
near the Warren boundary line was a fruitful source of con- 
tention between the two towns, and numerous petitions con- 
cerning the matter were presented for the consideration of 



380 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 




The Rogers Free Library. 



the General Assembly. The petitioners had uniformly re- 
ceived '^ leave to withdraw " until 1873, but the Legislature of 
that year lent a favorable ear to their request, and Bristol 
awoke only to find that it had lost forever a goodly portion of 
its patrimonial estate. 

In the year 1814 a young man 22 years of age, Robert 
Rogers, of Newport, came from that then less important com- 
mercial town to engage in the extended foreign commerce 
that was bringing such wealth into Bristol. He married a 
daughter of Mr. William DeWolf, and soon after formed 
a business connection with his father-in-law. For years he 
was one of the most prominent merchants of Bristol, and 
before his death he had become its wealthiest citizen. Dur- 
ing his life he frequently declared his intention of giving a 
library to his adopted town. After his death his widow 
found certain memoranda upon the subject among his papers, 
and at once determined to carry into effect her husband's 
plans. The result is the beautiful building upon Hope Street 
— the Rogers Free Library. The building was dedicated in 
1878, Prof. J. Lewis Diman, of Brown University, delivering 



GLEANINGS FROM THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 381 

the' dedicatory address. It was built at a cost of about $20,- 
000, and, with a valuable collection of books that had formed 
a part of her husband's library, was presented to the town of 
Bristol by Mrs. Rogers in that same year. A portion of the 
second story only is used by the library. The Young Men's 
Christian Association occupy one room, their library having 
been merged in tlie free library. The lower floor is occupied 
by two banks, and the I'ent paid by these institutions is used 
to defray the running expenses of tlie library. 

The following is taken from the quarto Hisfuri/ uf Rhode 
Island : — 

" The Prc.sa of Bristol. The first newspaper printed and published in 
Bristol was started in January, 1807, and was entitled the ^ Mount Llope 
Eaylc' It was published by the late Capt. Golden Dearth, and the late 
D. A. Leonard was editor, and also postmaster. It was in existence but 
one year. The printing office was located in a building which stood on 
the same site now occupied by the ' Bristol Phoinix.' The ' Bristol 
Gazette' was started in September, 1833, by Bennett J. Munro, Esq., 
as editor and publisher, and the late W. 11. S. Bayley as printer. In the 
January following, Mr. liayley purchased the entire establishment, and 
became publisher and editor. The ' Gazette ' was published for four 
years, and then was discontinued. After the lajjse of a few weeks, the 
'Bristol Phoenix' was published from the same office by Mr. Bayley, 
who continued its publication until his death, in March, 1862. The es- 
tablishment was subsequently purchased by C. A. Greene, who is the 
present editor and proprietor. The 'Phoenix' is issued every Satur- 
day morning; is a thirty-two column paper, and contains each week an 
interesting story, good miscellaneous selections, general intelligence, and 
full reports of local news. In January, 18T8, the ' Phoenix ' entered 
upon its forty-second volume. In May, 1840, a small newspaper, enti- 
tled ' The Bristol Eagle,' was published by Mr. Greene, the present 
editor of the ' Phoenix,' and T. Rutherford. It was continued only for 
one year." 

"The South Christian Church (Baptist) was- organized in 1833, and 
services were held at first in the Court House, then in a hall over a store. 
In 1834 they erected, at a cost of about $3,600, a house of worship on 
High Street (corner of Constitution), with fourteen meirbers. The 
first pastor was Harvey Sullings; Zalmon Tobey, G. F. Sanborn, Heze- 
kiah Pirnham, George W. Kilton, David Knowlton, J. J. Lawskee, 
Step' jn Fellows, S. K. Sweetman, J. S. Jones, and William Miller suc- 
ceeded him." 

Tiie society was dissolved a few years ago ; its house of 
worship has lately been sold to the " Odd Fellows." 



382 HISTORY OF BRISTOL. . 

" The Second Advent Society was organized in 1843, with about twen- 
ty-five members. Its first meetings were held in private houses, subse- 
quently in a public hall on State Street. O. R. Fassett was the first 
regulai'ly installed pastor. About this time their meetings were held 
in the Court House, and some time after the society divided. One 
party built a church on State Street, where they continued to hold 
meetings for several years. At present, meetings are held in a church 
on High Street." 

The society has no settled pastor. 

On Friday, Sept. 24, 1880, the town celebrated its Bi-Cen- 
tennial Anniversary. As a full account of the proceedings is 
about to be published in pamphlet form, only a brief mention of 
the programme observed is needed here. The management 
of the celebration was placed in charge of a large commit- 
tee, who performed their duties with great ability and success. 
On the night of Thursday, almost all of the dwellings in 
the compact part of the town were brilliantly illuminated. 
Until a late hour the streets were crowded with throngs of citi- 
zens and strangers, passing on in orderly procession to view 
the varied decorations. No disturbances occurred to mar the 
enjoyment of the occasion, either on Thursday or Friday, 
and the beautiful September vreather seemed to have reserved 
its choicest smiles to grace the festival of the pleasant old 
town. Through the week a very interesting collection of 
portraits and ancient relics was on exhibition at the Town 
Hall, under the efificient management of Mr. John DeWolf. 
In the morning of Friday a long procession was formed upon 
High Street, under the direction of Mr. Samuel P. Colt, Chief 
Marshal of the day. Through the })rincipal streets of the 
town it marched, and was at last dismissed upon the Com- 
mon, near the tent where the literary exercises were to be 
held. The Chaplain of the day, Rev. George L. Locke, of 
St. Michael's Ciiurch, opened the services with prayer. Mr. 
LeBaron B. Colt, President of the Bi-Centennial Committee, 
followed with a brief address of welcome. The historical 
address was delivered by the Rev. Professor J. Lewis Diman, 
D. D., of Brown University ; the poem was read by the 
Rt. Rev. M. A. DeWolfe Howe, d. d., Bishop of Central Penn- 
sylvania. (Both the orator and poet were natives of the 



GLEANINGS FROM THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 383 

town.) Tlie benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Wil- 
liam V. Morrison, d. d., of the Methodist Church. The ex- 
ercises were interspersed with singing by a choir of chil- 
dren from the public schools, and by music from the Boston 
Cadet Band. 

After the literary exercises were concluded, dinner was 
served to the visiting sons and daughters in an adjoining tent. 
After-dinner speeches were made by Gov. Alfred H. Little- 
field, representing the State of Rhode Island ; Col. Thomas 
W. Higginson, of the staff of Governor Long, representing 
the State of Massachusetts ; and Mr. William J. Miller, rep- 
resenting the town of Bristol. Hon. Henry B. Anthony, of 
the U. S. Senate ; Ex-Gov. Charles C. Van Zandt ; Bishop 
Howe, of Central Pennsylvania; President E. G. Robinson, of 
Brown University, and President Zachariah Allen, of the 
Rhode Island Historical Society, also spoke. United States 
Senator Ambrose E. Burnside, a resident of Bristol, was the 
toast-master. The planting of four trees upon the Common, 
to commemorate the four founders of the town, terminated 
the exercises of the afternoon. The tree-planting exercises 
were under the charge of Mr. Edward S. Babbitt, who intro- 
duced the several speakers with appropriate remarks. The 
tree planted to the memory of Nathaniel Oliver was dedi- 
cated by one of his descendants, Mayor Henry K. Oliver, of 
Salem, Mass. At the Stephen Burton tree, Mr. Wilfred H. 
Munro, of Bristol, spoke. Mr. William J, Miller, of Bristol, 
was the representative of John Walley ; and Francis Brinley, 
Esq., of Newport, was chosen to deliver the address com- 
memorating his ancestor, Nathaniel Byfield. The Byfield 
tree was an oak, the other three were elms; they were 
planted in a square not far from the centre of the Common. 
A promenade concert in the evening, in the large dining-tent, 
closed the public observance of the celebration. 



Chapter l. 



THE ROLL OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



In this roll the names of Bristol citizens who were mem- 
bers of the Governor's Council in Massachusetts, or of the 
Council or Senate of Rhode Island, prior to 1843, are not 
given. The names of John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, John 
Saffin and others, would appear in the Massachusetts records ; 
those of Simeon Potter, John DeWolf, William Reynolds, 
William DeWolf, William Pearse, Byron Diman and others, 
would be found in the records of Rhode Island. But it 
would be impossible to make the list complete, as the resi- 
dences of the members of the Council and Senate do not 
appear upon the official books. 

In the General Court of Plymouth Colony. 



1682- 


3. Benjamin Church. 




Jabez Howland. 


1684. 


Benjamin Church. 




John Rogers. 




John Walley. 




John Saffin. 


1685-6. Stephen Burton. 


1690. 


Stephen Burton. 




John Rogers. 




Jabez Howland. 


1686-7-8-9. Administration of Sir 


1691. 


John Saffin. 




Edmund Andres, no Represent- 




William Throope. 




atives chosen. 


1692. 


Plymouth Colony 


1689. 


Nathaniel Byfield. 
Stephen Burton. 




Massachusetts. 




In the General Con 


rt of Massachusetts. 


1692. 


John Saffin. 


1711- 


15. Simon Davis. 




Stephen Burton. 


1716-17. Samuel Gallop. 


1693. 


Nathaniel Byfield. (Speaker.) 


1718- 


20. William Throope 


1694. 


Nathaniel Byfield. 


1721. 


William Throope. 




John Gary. 




Simon Davis. 


1695. 


John Rogers. 


1722. 


Samuel Little. 


1696. 


Ebenezer Brenton. 


1723. 


William Throope. 


1697. 


Jabez Howland. 


1724- 


26. Nathaniel Paine. 


1698-1702. Ebenezer Brenton. 


1727. 


Nathaniel Paine. 


1703. 


Nathaniel Blagrove. 




Samuel Little. 


1704. 


Simon Davis. 


1728- 


9. Nathaniel Paine. 


1705-10. Nathaniel Blagrove. 


1730-36. Charles Church. 



joined to 



•THE ROLL OP REPRESENTATIVES. 



385 



1737-40. Stephen Paine. 

1741. Stephen Paine. 
Thomas Greene. 

1742. Stephen Paine. 
174.3. Charles Church. 



1744-5. Stephen Paine. 
1746. Charles Church. 
Bristol annexed to Rhode Island Jan- 
uary 27, 1746-7. 



In the General Assembly of Rhode Island. 



1747. 


Jonathan Peck. 




Nathaniel Bosworth. 




Thomas Greene. 


1748-9. Jonathan Peck. 




Thomas Greene. 


1750. 


Jonathan Peck. 




Thomas Greene. 




Shearjashuh Bourne. 


1751. 


Jonathan Peck. 




Joseph Russell. 


1752. 


Jonathan Peck. 




Simeon Potter. 




Simon Davis. 


1753. 


Joseph Russell. 




Simon Davis. 


1754. 


Joseph Russell. 




Thomas Greene. 


1755. 


.Joseph Russell. 




Shearjushub Bourne. 


1756. 


Thomas Greene. 




Nathaniel Fales. 


1757. 


Simeon Potter. 




William Pearse. 


1758. 


Joseph Russell. 




William Pearse. 


1759. 


Joseph Russell. 




Simon Davis. 


1760. 


Simon Davis. 




Joseph Reynolds. 


1761. 


Simeon Potter. 




William Bradford. 




Daniel Bradford. 


1762. 


William Bradford. 




Daniel Bradford. 


1763. 


William Bradford. 




Simeon Potter. 


1764. 


William Bradford. (Speaker.) 




Simeon Potter. 


1765-6. William Bradford. (Speaker.) 




Nathaniel Pearse. 


1767. 


Simeon Potter. 




Nathaniel Pearse. 




Thomas Greene. 




35 



1768-9. Simeon Potter. 
William Bradford. 

1770. Christopher Ellery, 
William Pearse. 

1771. Christopher Ellery. 
William Pearse. 
Daniel Bradford. 

1772-4. Simeon Potter. 
William Bradford. 

1775. Dep.-Gov. Wm. Bradfobd. 
Maj.-Gen. Simeon Potter. 
Benjamin Bosworth. 

1776. Dep.-Gov. Wm. Bradford. 
Shearjashuh Bourne. 
Nathaniel Pearse. 

1777. Dep.-Gov. Wm. Bradford. 
Nathaniel Fales. 
Stephen Smith. 

1778. Dep.-Gov. Wm. Bradford. 
Nathaniel Fales. 

Daniel Bradford. 

1779. William Bradford. 
Benjamin Bourne. 
Daniel Bradford. 

1780. William Bradford. (Speaker.) 
Benjamin Bourne. 

1781-4. William Bradford. (Speaker. 

Nathaniel Fales. 
1785-7. William Bradford. (Speaker.) 

Stephen Smith. 
1788-90. William Bradford. (Speaker.) 

Shearjashuh Bourne. 
1791-3. William Bradford. (Speaker.) 

Samuel Wardwell. 
1793-7. Samuel Wardwell. 

Loring Peck. 
1798-1800. Wm. Bradford. (Speaker.) 

James DeWolf. 
1800-2. William Bradford. (Speaker.) 

Shearjashuh Bourne. 
1802-3. William Bradford. 

James DeWolf. 
1803. Joseph Wardwell. 



386 



HISTORY OF BRISTOL. 





James DeWolf. 




Nathaniel Bullock. 


1804. 


William Ccggeshall. 




John Howe. 




James DeWoIf. 


1824. 


George DeWolf. 


1805. 


William Reynolds. 




Nathaniel Bullock. 




James DeWolf. 




Benjamin Norris. 


180(J. 


Benjamin Bosworth, 2cl. 


1825. 


Nathaniel Bullock. (Speaker.) 




William Coggeshall. 




George DeWolf. 




James DeWolf. 


1826. 


Nathaniel Bullock. 


1807. 


Caleb Littlefield. 




Benjamin Norris. 




James DeWolf. 


1827. 


Nathaniel Bullock. 


1808. 


John DeWolf. 




Benjamin Norris. 




Daniel Bradford. 




John Howe. 




Samuel Reynolds. 


• 1828. 


John Howe. 


1809. 


James DeWolf. 




Benjamin Norris. 




Samuel W'ardwell. 




Byron Diman. 


1810. 


James DeWolf. 




Samuel Coggeshall. 




Samuel Wardwell. 


1829. 


Byron Diman. 




William Pearse. 




John Howe. 


1811. 


James DeWolf. 




James DeWolf. 




William Pearse. 


1830. 


Jacob Babbitt. 


1812. 


James DeWolf. 




Ichabod Davis. 




William Pearse. 




James DeWolf. 




Nathaniel Gladding. 




John Howe. 




John Bradford. 


1831- 


2 James DeWolf. 


1813- 


14. Nathaniel Gladding. 




Ichabod Davis. 




John Bradford. 


1833. 


James DeWolf. 


1815. 


Nathaniel Gladding. 




Ichabod Davis. 




John Bradford. 




Benjamin Norris. 




James DeWolf. 


1834. 


James DeWolf. 




Nathaniel Fales. 




Benjamin Norris. 


1816. 


Nathaniel Bullock. 


1835. 


James DeWolf. 




William Reynolds. 




Ambrose Waldron. 


1817. 


James DeWolf. 


1836. 


James DeWolf. 




Nathaniel Bullock. 




Joseph M. Blake. 




William Reynolds. 




Nathaniel Bullock. 


1818. 


James DeWolf. 


1837. 


James DeWolf. 




William Reynolds. 




Joseph M. Blake. 




Charles DeWolf. 




Byron Diman. 




John DeWolf, Jr. 


1838. 


Byron Diman. 


1819. 


James DeWolf. (Speaker.) 




William Pearse, 2d. 




Hopestill P. Diman. 




Ambrose Waldron. 


1820. 


James DeWolf. (Speaker.) 


1839. 


Joseph M. Blake. 




Nathaniel Bullock. 




Benjamin Hall. 


1821. 


Nathaniel Bullock. 


1840. 


Benjamin Hall. 




Nathaniel Wardwell. 




William Pearse, 2d. 




John DeWolf, Jr. 


1841. 


Lieut. -Gov. Byron Diman. 


1822. 


Nathaniel Bullock. 




John Howe. 




George DeWolf. ' 




William Pearse, 2d. 




Nathaniel Wardwell. 


1842. 


Lieut. -Gov. Nathaniel Bul- 


1823. 


George DeWolf. 




lock. 




Nathaniel Wardwell. 




John Howe. 



THE ROLL OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



387 



Joseph M. Blake. 
Benjamin Hall. 

1843. New Constitution adopted. The 
names of the Senators are 
printed in italics : — 

1843. LiEUT.-Gov. Byron Diman. 
Nathaniel Bullock. 
Benjamin Hall. 

Jacob Babbitt, Jr. 

1844. Lieut. -Gov. Byron Diman. 
Benjamin Hall. 

J. Russell Bullock. 
Charles Fales. 

1845. LiEUT.-Gov. Byron Diman. 
George Pearse. 

J. Russell Bullock. 
Jacob Babbitt, Jr. 

1846. Gov. Byron Diman. 
George Pearse. 

J. Russell Bullock. 

Jacob Babbitt, Jr. 
1847-8. George Pearse. 

John DeWolf . 

William H. S. Bayley. 
1849. George Pearse. 

Charles Fales. 

Hezekiah C. Ward well. 
1850-1. Byron Diman. 

Hezekiah C. Wardwell. 

Benjamin Hall. 

1852. BT/ron Diman. 
Benjamin Hall. 
William B. Spoouer. 

1853. Lieut. -Gov. Francis M. Di- 

MOND. 

Benjamin Hall. 
J. Russell Bullock. 
John B. Munro. 

1854. Benjamin Hall. 
William B. Spoouer. 
John B. Munro. 

1855. William P. Monroe. 
Stephen T. Church. 
John B. Munro. 

Joseph M. Blake. 

1856. William P. Monroe. 
John B. Munro. 
William H. Church. 
John B. Herreshoff. 

1857. William H. S. Bayley. 
John B. Munro. 



John B. Herreshoff. 

1858. William H. S. Bayley. 
Messadore T. Bennett. 
Samuel Sparks. 

1859. J. Rnssell Bullock. 
Samuel W. Church. 
Henry W. Diman. 

ISGO. Lieut. -Gov. J. Russell Bul- 
lock. 
William H. S. Bayley. 
Samuel W. Church. 
Henry W. Diman. 

1861. William H. S. Bayley. 
Samuel W. Church. 
Henry W. Diman. 

1862. kiamiicl W. Church. 
Joseph M. Blake. 
John Turner. 

1863-5. Samuel W. Church. 

Joseph M. Blake. 

James DeW. Perry. 
1866-7. Samuel W. Church. 

James DeW. Perry. 

Theodore P. Bogert. 

1868. Samuel W. Church. 
Theodore P. Bogert. 
James M. Gooding. 

1869. Samuel W. Church. 
Theodore P. Bogert. 
John C. Pegram. 

1870. Isaac F. Williams. 
Theodore P. Bogert. 
William T. C. WardwelL 

1871. Isaac F. Williams. 
John Wesley Pearse. 
William T. C. Wardwell. 

1872. William T. C. Wardwell. 
John Wesley Pearse. 
John Turner. 

1873-4. John Turner. 

William J. Miller. 

Charles A. Green. 
1875. John Turner. 

William T. C. WardwelL 

Isaac F. Williams. 
1876-8. Augtislus 0. Bourn. 

William H. Spooner. 

Samuel P. Colt. 
1879-80. Augustus 0. Bourn. 

William H. Spoouer. 

LeBarou B. Colt. 



Appendix. 




THE WRITING UPON THE ROCK. 



Bktween Mount Hope and the Narrows, upon the shore of 
the farm of Mr. Arthur Codinan, lies the rock with the singu- 
lar inscription, which is represented upon this page. The 
name and the race of him who cut it have never been known to 
the modern inhabitants of the Mount Hope peninsula. When 
the first white settlers came to Bristol, they saw the strange 
characters almost as we see them to-day. The Indian tribes 
our ancestors knew, had no written language ; the record 
made cannot therefore be theirs. Imagination delights to 
connect it with the visits of the Northmen described in the 
opening chapter of this book. It is easy to conjecture in 
what manner the record was made. As tlie boat of the 
Northmen approached the shore, when the tide was almost at 
the flood, the broad, flat surface of the rock presented itself 
invitingly to their feet amid the liuge round boulders that 



390 APPENDIX. 

covered most of the shore. (A part of these boulders have 
since been removed, having been used in the construction of 
a wharf not far away.) When the party set out to explore 
the surrounding country one of their number was left in 
charge of the boat. As the tide went down he seated him- 
self upon the rock with his battle-axe in his hand, and amused 
himself by catting his name and the figure of his boat upon 
its surface. The rock is of " graywacke ; " while it can 
easily be cut, it yet retains unchanged for ages characters 
traced upon its surface. The first or left-hand letter of. the 
inscription is probably incomplete. The edge of the rock 
seems to have been broken off at that place. Between the 
third and fourth characters it would appear that a piece of 
the rock had also been cliipped out, possibly by the careless 
stroke of the graver himself. There are marks to show that 
another letter once had a place there. The rock was lost 
sight of for a immber of years, and has quite recently been 
rediscovered. When Professor Diman wrote his historical 
sketches ( The Annals of Bristol) in the Bristol Phceriix, 
thirty years or more ago, no one knew its location. This is 
not remarkable, for while the rock is about ten feet long by 
six wide, the inscription covers only a very small part — 
hardly two feet — of its surface, and is by no means promi- 
nent. Mr. William J. Miller, in his Wampanoag Indians, lias 
given a copy of this inscription, differing in some slight jjar- 
ticulars from the one here presented. 



Index. 



Academy, 264. 
Adams, D., 252. 
Adams, J., 233. 
Advent Society, 382. 
African Slave Trade, 352. 
Alderman, 47, 52. 
Alexander, 37. 
Allen, Z., 383. 
Almy, D., ;^5. 
Anderson, D., 211(5. 
Anderstrom, L. L., 301. 
Andrews. R. S., 335, 344. 

Andres, Sir E., 118. 

Annawon, 51. 

Annexed to Mass., U'.l, to R. I., 160. 

Anthonv, H. B., 383. 

Arnold,' G. U ,301. 

Articles of the "Yankee," 303. 

Artillery Company, 247. 

Asbury, Bishop. 265. 

Avery, Rev. E. K., 265. 

Awashonks, 41, 42, 46. 

Babbitt, E. S., 3:55, 383. 
Babbitt, J., 247, 317. 
Balch, Rev. L. P. W., 332. 
Banks and Paper Money, 161. 
Bardin, N., 230, 312. 
Barrows, J., 340. 
Barton, Col., 216, 239, 256. 
Barton, S., 306, 307, 308, 315. 
Bates, Rev. B., 297. 
Bavlev, W. H. S., 381. 
Bell, from Oliver, IK). 
Bell, W. n., 233. 
Bennett, H. F.. 3.35. 
Bennett, M., 233. 
Bennett, M.T., 230, 233. 
Bestor, Rev. F., 299. 
Bi-Ceutennial Celebration, 382. 
Bicknell, T. W., 345. 346. 
Bigelow, Rev. J. F., 300. 
Blackbirds, etc., 123. 
Blagrove, N., 70, 76, 121, 158. 
Blaiu, Rev. J., 301. 
Blake, E. A., 364. 
Blake, J. M., 251. 
Blinn. J. M., 309. 



Bliven, H. B.. 312. 

Block, A., 26. 

"Blockade," 307,313. 

Bogert, T. P., 335. 

Bombardment, 202, XXVII. 

Bonney, Rev. I., 270. 

Book of Marks, 111. 

Borland Farm, 244. 

Bosworth, B., 193, 195, 235, 2.36, 245, 

340. 
Bosworth, H., 319. 
Bosworth, N., 91, 97, 126, 128, 131, 

145, 150, 158, 160, 367. 
Bosworth, S., 340, 342. 
Boundarv Question, 379. 
Bourne, A., 213,252. 
Bourne, B., 104, 252, XXXII. 
Bourne, F., 273. 
Bourne, J. W., .368. 
Bourne, P. B., 266. 
Bourne, S.. 104. 193, 244, 246,258, 340, 
Bourne & Ward well, 368. 
Bowen, B., 314. 
Bradford, D., 340,342. 
Bradford, J., 247, 2.52 
Bradford, L- B., 205, 364. 
Bradford. Wm,, 165, 193, 198, 203, 214, 

236, 238, 213. 252, XXXI. 
Bragg, H.. 145. 
Brand of Town, 111. 
Brenton, E., 120, 145. 
Brenton, W., 92. 
Bribery, etc., 161, 162. 
Brick School House, 341. 
Briggs, A., 168. 
Briggs, J., 296. 
Briggs, L. W., 296. 
Bri'nley, F., 73. 383. 
Bristed, Rev. J . 326. 
Brown, Rev. D., 144. 
Brown, J., 42, 244, 340. 
Brown, Rev. .7. N., 299. 
Brown, Rev. W. L., 300. 
Bruce, G. A., 307. 
" Brutus," 311. 
Bullock, J. R.. .'^iS. 379. 
! Bullock, I^., 258, 376. 
I Burgess, G. H., 273. 



392 



INDEX. 



Burgess, J. N. , 344. 

Burnham, H., .381. 

Burning, 209, XXVIII. 

Burnside, A. E.. 359, 375, 383. 

Burnside, W., 233. 

Burr, L., 345, 34G. 

Burt, Rev. J., 208, 212, 221, 243. 

Burton, S., 75, 96, 118, 119, 383. 

Burying-Grouuds, 109. 

Byfield, N.,X.,'88, 96, 98, 111, 112, 120, 

123. 124, 128, 131, 158, 383. 
Byfield Houses, 106, 108. 
Byfield School, 347. 

Caner, Rev. H., 151. 

Cape Money, 336. 

Card, H. F., 365. 

Carpenter, J., 314. 

Carto, Rev. B., 300. 

Cary, B., 221. 

Carv, J., 91, 111, 11.5, 118, 119, 128, 

131. 
Cary, N., 212. 
Census Returns, 188, 244. 
Charter Privileges, 121. 
Chase, Rev. E.'E., 299. 
Cheverus, Bishop, 295, .355. 
Christopher, W., 213. 
Church, B.,41, 45,49, 06, XIII., 97, 

111, 112, 115, 118, 120, 124, 128, 1.31. 
Church's Fort, 44. 
Church, P., 210, 217, 340. 
Church, S. T., 2.30. 
Church, W. H., 2.33. 
Churchill, B. K., 308, 309, 315. 
Clarke, Rev. A. L., 155. 
Cohbitt, S., 337. 
Coggeshall, C H., 233. 
Coggeshall, W., .340. 
Coke, Bishop, 264. 
Cold Spring Monument, 47. 
Collins, C.,341. 
Colt, L. B., 382. 
Colt, S. P. 335, 382. 
Commerce, 165, XLVII. 
Common Laud, etc., 95, 9it. 
Congregational Bell, 247. 
Congregational Chapel, 232. 
Congregational Hall, 227. 
Constable's Duties, etc., 112. 
Cook, N. B., 345, ;346. 
Cooke, Rev. J. W., 328, 344. 
Coomer J., 210, .340. 
Coope, Rev. T., 264. 
Cooper, Rev. E.. 263. 
Corbet, W., 124. 
Corps, J., 118, 124. 
Corrections, 5. 

Cotton, Rev. N., 140, 143, 157, 219. 
Cotton Mills, 374. 
County of Bristol, 116, 117. 
Court House, 153. 
Coxx, W., 150, 214. 
Crane's Lane, 164. 
Crocker, Rev. Dr., 286. 
Crocker, Rev. H., 301. 



Cross, J., 343. 
Crowne, J., 53. 
"Curlew," 311. 

Darby, R.,249. 

Deane,M.,314. 

Dearth, G., 307, .381. 

Dedication Ode, 347. 

DeWolf, C, 226, 251, 274, 342, 370. 

DeAA^olf, G., 274, 342, 370. 

DeWolf, H., 249. 

DeWolf, James, 226, 274, 297. 302, 
303, 307, 311, XL., 342, 343, 350, 351, 
370. 

DeWolf, John, 226, 274. 283, 341, 382. 

DeWolf, M. A., 164, 180, 216, 322. 

DeWolf, Miss C, 232. 

DeWolf, Mrs. R. B, 363. 

DeWolf, W., 2.32, 247.. 340, 370, 380. 

Diman, B., 377. 

Diman, Rev. J. L., 380, 382, 390. 
i Dimond, F. M., .378. 
i Distilleries, 246. 

Dixon, E., 273. 
j Donations for Boston, 199. 
i Dorr War, 376. 
^^otv, B., 263. 
I Doyle, Rev. Mr., 151, 

Dunbar, Judge, 160. 

Duties paid, 370. 

Eastburn, Rev. J. \Y., 293. 
Easterhrooks, Mr., .337. 
Eddy, G., 307. 
Elliot, F., 308. 
Eslick,!., 2.3(;. 
Estee, J. A., 34(1. 

Fales, J., 214. 
Fales, N., 193. 
Fales, T., 1.59. 160. 
Fales, Rev. T. F., 328. 
Fassett, O. R., .382. 
Federal Constitution, 245. 
Fellows, Rev. S., 381. 
Fidelity, Oath of, 114. 
Field Pieces, 247. 
Fines, 115. 
Finney, J., 1.32, 160. 
Fire Engines, 245. 
First House, 103. 
First Inhabitants, 79. 
First Meeting House, 128. 
First Town-Meeting. 78. 
First Training Day, 114. 
Fish, C, 346. 
Fish, E., 273. 
Florence, P., 314. 
Fore-and-Aft-Schooners, 165. 
Forfeitures. 95. 
" Francis." 306. 
Franklin, R. B., 273. 
Freeborn, J. T., 27.3. 
Freeman, Rev. E., .300. 
Freemen, List of, 114, 161. 



INDEX. 



393 



Free Schools, 3:^9. 
Frencli, J., 314. 
Freuch, Mrs. L. S., 331. 
French Burial-Place, 242. 
French Hospital, 242. 
French and Indian War, 164. 
Fuller, Capt., 45. 

Gallup, S., 122. 

Gardner, N., 312. 

Gardner, J. L., 321. 

" Gaspee," 167. 

Geese, etc., 123. 

"Gen. Wellesley," 30!). 

Gifford, J. M., 347. 

Gladding, D., 263. 

Gladding, J., 230, 263. 

Gladdins;, P., 273. 

Gladding, W.,151t, 217. 

Gorham, Laud of, 61, 77. 

Gorham, J., 92, 111. 

Graded Schools, 343, 346. 

Grafton, S., 308. 

(irainmar Schools, 3.36. 

Grand Articles, 94. 

Grand Deed, 60. 

Grant to Plymoutli, ."i8. 

Graves, Kev. J. M.,300. 

Greene, C. A., 381. 

Greene, E. W., 364. 

Greene, T., 160, l(i4. 

Gregg, R., 273. 

Grist Mills, 122, 123. 

Griswold, Bishop, 155, XXXV., 295, 

355. 
Gullifer, S., 307. 
Gushee, D. S., 343. 

Haile Turner's Tavern, 165. 
Hampden, J., 29. 
Harding, W., 319. 
Hayman, N., 70, 76, 97. 
Henderson, T., 364. 
"Henshaw, Bishop, 289. ^ 

Herreshoff Maiuxfacturing Co., 37;*: 
Hervey, J., 337. 
Hessians, 209. 
Hetherington, A. B., 30H. 
Hidden, J. E., 343. 
Higginson, T. W., 383. 
High School, :U4. 
Highways, 97. 
"Hiram," 311. 
Hoar, W.. 150, 218. 
Hobart, Rev. J. N., 300. 
Hobbamock, 31. 
Holmes, T. G., ;«).5. 
Holmes, W., 165. 
Hop, 21. 
Hopkins, S., 28. 
House Lots and Houses, 94, 95. 
Hovey, Mr., .340. 
Howe, Bishop, 334, 347, 382, 383. 
Howland, J., 5, 93, 110, 112, 130, 145, 
166, 245. 



Howland, P., 146. 
Howland, S., 138, 160, 338. 
Hubbard, Rev. H. G., 300. 
Hubbard, L., .340. 
Hubbard, N., 159. 
Hunt, Rev. E. T., 301. 
Hussey, O. B., 314. 

Indians, 187. 
Indian Corn, 158. 
lugraham, J., 193, 236, 245. 
Ingraham, W., 78, 97. 

Jenckes, W. C, 308. 
Jillson, W. E.,344, 346. 
Jol'.nson, Rev. J. H., 365. 
Jolls, R.,2.37. 
Jones, B., 97. 

Jones, Rev. H. M., 295, 301. 
Jones, Rev. J. S., -"'SI. 
Jones, T.,306, 307. 
"Juno," 274, 319. 

Kav, N., 146, 148. 
Kendall, J., 346. 
Kent, Rev. A., 263, 268. 
Kickemuit, 29. 
Killon, Rev. G. W., 381. 
King Pliilip, 37-51. 
Kinuicutt, B., ;>40. 
Knowlton, Rev. D., 381. 

Lafayette, 240. 

Lake, J., 301. 

Lancasterian System, 343. 

Lane, Rev. J. P., 232. 

Langsdorff, Dr., 277. 

Latham, H. S., 345, 346. 

Lawder, R., 364. 

Lawless, J., 347. 

Lawrence, J., 273. 

Lawskee, Rev. J. J-, 381. 

Lawton, T., 145,150. 

Lee, Rev. J., 261, 2ti3, 273. 

Lee, Rev. S., 88, 130,131. 

Leif Ericson, 17, l.t. 

Leif's Booths, 20. 

Leonard, D. A., 317, 381. 

Leonard, S., 296. 

Letter of Protest, Cong. Soc.,225. 

Lewis, Rev. I., 226, 228. 

License Fees, etc., 339. 

Lindall, N., 340. 

Lindsay, J., 98, 145, 1.50. 

Lindsay, W., 264. 

Liscomb, S., 215. 

Little, S., 145. 

Littlefield, A. H.,3H3. 

Locke, Rev. G. L., 3,53, 382. 

Lotteries, 297. 

Luther, Miss E. R., 336, 346. 

McGallion, Rev. M., :i54. 
" Macdonough," 314, 318. 



394 



INDEX. 



MacFarland, Bishop, 356. 

Mackintosh, H., 142, 145. 

McSparran, Rev. J., 135, 143. 

Manchester, W., 228, 233. 

Mann, Rev. J., 226, 227. 

Marchant, A. F., 273. 

Marston, W. F., 346. 

Martin, T.,215. 

Martin, W., 150. 

Mason, E. D.,346. 

Massasoiet, 27,31, 37. 

Methodist Ministers, 272. 

Miles' Bridge, 43. 

Miller, Rev. W., 381. 

Miller, W. J., 383, 390. 

Milton, T., 307. 

Ministry Lot, 99. 

Ministers' Taxes remitted, 164. 

Monro, G. B., 344. 

Monro, W. P., 5. 

Moorfield, J., 274. 

Montop and Mount Hope, 21, 29, 54, 

57,61. 
Moran, Rev. S., 364. 
Morley, F. G., 345, 346. 
Morrison, Rev. W. V., 271, 383. 
Mott, J. H. H., 365. 
Mount Hope Eagle, 381. 
Mount Hope Farm, 243. 
Munro, B., 150, 207. 
Munro, B. J., 5, 381. 
Munro, J. B., 347. 
Munro, N., 150, 263. 
Munro, O., 336. 
Munro, S., 150,247,263. 
Munro, W., 145, 161, 215, 335. 
Munro, W. H., 336,383. 
Munroe, H. F., 365. 
Murray, R., 364. 

National Rubber Co., 375. 
Nelson, Rev. S. S., 296. 
Nelson, Dr. T., 295, 297. 
Newell, S. G.,274. 
Newport in the Revolution, 234. 
Nichols, I. , 340. 
Normal School, 224, 346. 
North Bridge, 103. 
Northmen,!., 388. 
Norwest John, 274. 
Noyes, W. R., 313, 342. 
Nutting, J., 338. 

OfBcial Oath, 162. 
Old Tenor Bills, 164. 
Oliver, H. K., 383. 
Oliver, N., 76, 96,121,383. 
Onions, 367. 
Orem, Rev. J., 142. 
Osborne, Rev. C. P., 231. 

Paine, N., 92, 97. 
Paper Monej', 245. 
Papillion, O., 145. 
Parker, E. D., 275. 



Pearce, G. H., 335. 

Pearse, J. W.,273. 

Pearse, M., 273. 

Pearse, N., 150, 212. 

Pearse, S., 340. 

Pearse, W., 150, 263,264. 

Peck, Rev. F., 328. 

Peck, G. H., 273. 

Peck, J., 160, 162, 205, 210, 263. 

Peck, Rev. J. J., 301. 

Peck, L., 210. 

Peck, S. v., 247. 

Peck, W. R.,273. 

Peckham, P.M., 296. 

Perry, A., 5. 

Perry, C. V.,.365. 

Perry, Rev. J. D. W., 332. 

Petition to Congress, 246. 

Philip's son sent to Bermuda, 49. 

Phillips, G.,314. 

Pierce, A., 347. 

Pitman, J. H., 335. 

Pokanoket Indians, 28. 

Pokanoket, or Puckanokick, 32, 42. 

Polls and Ratable Property, 242. 

Poppasquash, 6, 66. 

Population Statistics, 186. 

Post Office, 236. 

Potter, H., 175, 214,263. 

Potter, S., 150,159, 162, 167, 175, 
XXIV., 193, 203, 215, 236,251, 322. 

Potter Library, 251. 

Press ol Bristol, 381. 

Prices of Merchandise, 159, 241. 

" Prince Charles of Jjorraine," 178. 

Private Armed Ships, 176. 

Private Instructions to Privateer Cap- 
tains, 308. 

Privileges of Mt. Hope Settlers, 62. 

Proposals for Altering the Constitu- 
tion. 200. 

Protest from Church of England Peo- 
ple, 149. 

Qualifications of Freemen, 162. 

Railroad, 379. 

Rainor, Rev. M., 263. 

" Rambler," 313. 

Rates, 113. 

Rawson, Mr., 342. 

Reed, J., 319. 

Reed, Rev. N. A., 300. 

Reed, S., 237. 

Reformed Methodist. 327. 

Resolutions Boston Tea Party, 193. 

Revivals, 267, 286, 290, 327. 

Reynolds, J., 210, 226, 240. 

Reynolds, J. P. , 364, 365. 

Reynolds, N., 92, 128, 131. 

Richmond, Dr., 213. 

Richmond, L. C, 266. 

Richmond, T., 251. 

Rhode Island, 26. 

Robinson, Rev. E. G., 383. 

Robinson, I., 112. 



INDEX. 



395 



Rock Picture, 388. 

Rogers, Rev. C. J., 357. 

Rogers, J., 112, 114, 118, 128. 

Rogers, R., 380. 

Rogers, Mrs. R., 232. 

Roll of Representatives, 384. 

Rope "Walks, 162. 

Ross, Rev. A. A., 299. 

Row-galley Washiugton, 239. 

" Roval Bounty," 305. 

Russ'ell, J.. IGO, 161, 193, 236, 244, 245, 

368. 
Russell, T. H., 303. 
Rutherford, T., 381. 



Saffin, J., 69, XIV., 115, 119, 121. 
Sanborn, Rev. G. F., 381. 
Sanford, G., 263. 
" San Jose Indiano," 308. 
Sands, R. C, 293. 
" Sarauac," 311, 
Saunders, C, 92,97. 
Sausainan, J., 39. 
Sayles, H. C, 364, 365. 
Schools and Schoolmasters, 113, 336. 
School Districts, 342. 
School House, 340. 
School Lands, 338. 
School Superintendents, 344. 
Seacounet Indians, 41, 42. 
Selectmen, Oath, Duties, etc., 112. 
Severs, Mr., 3.38. 
" Shannon," 306. 

Shepard. Rev. T., 229, 231, 266, 344. 
Ship-building, 373. 
Simmons, G. W., 273. 
Simmons, S., 314. 
Skinner, P., 233, 344. 
Skinner, W. D., 364. 
Skraelings, 20. 
Slade, J. R., 347. 
^aves,.73, 147. 165, 187, 244, 349. 
Slocum, S.,247. 
Small-Pox, 157, 159, 166. 
Smith, B., 226. 
Smith, Bishop, 334. 
Smith, G. J., 273. 
Smith, J., 215, 303, 307, 308, 311. 
Smith, Rev. L., 263. 
Smith, N., 124, 214, 246. 
Smith, R., 9.;, 210, 245. 
Smith, S., 214. 
Smith, S. H., 347. 
Smith, W., 27.3. 
Snelling, Rev. J., 267. 
Snorri Thorfinnson, 21. 
Snow, 165. 
Snow, E., 307. 
Song about " Gaspee," 173. 
South Christian Church, 381. 
Sowams, 29. 

Sparhawk, Rev. J., 133, 135. 
Sparks, S., 163. 
Spider Windmill, 246. 
Spooner, C. H., 301. 



Spoouer, E. M., 364. 

Spooner, W. B., 230, 344. 

Spooner, W. H., 233. 

Squauto, 29. 

Stanton, W. B., 273. 

Starkweather, Rev. J. , 229. 

Steamboats, 379. 

St. Mary's Church, 356. 

St. Michael's Chapel, 333. 

St. Michael's Church, 141, 152. 

Stocks and Whipping-Post, 166. 

Storms. 157, 239, 240. 

Storrs, O., 343. 

Stowe, Rev. W.,5, 331. 

Streets, 97, 98. 

Subscriptions for Boston, li>7. 

Suffrage Restored, 242. 

Sugar Refinery, 374. 

Sullings, Rev. H., 381. 

Sunday Schools, 228. 

Swan, Mr,, 342. 

Swan, T., 5, 172, 318. 

Swansey, 49. 

Sweet, M., 303, 307, 314. 

Sweetman, Rev. S. K., 381. 

Sykes, Rev. J. N., 300,344. 



Talbee, E.,273. 
Tavern Bill, 247. 
Taylor, Rev. B., 220. 
Taylor, " Father," 269. 
Tenure of Land, 298. 
Test Act, 245. 
Text-Books, 342. 
Thayer, S. W., 233. 
Thomas, J. A., 274. 
Thorfinn Karlsefni, 20, 22. 
Thresher, R., 296. 
Throat Distemper, 220. 
Throope, A., 3.39. 
Throope, J., .340. 
Throope, T., 160. 
Throope, W., 92, 118, KM. 
Tiernan, R. F., 364. 
Tobey, Rev. Z., 300, .--SI. 
Tonnage, Table of, 372. 
Town Hall, 223. 
Trapnell, Rev. J., 266, 3:50. 
Trotter, A. R., 335. 
Trotter, W. R.,365. 
True, Rev. C. K.,265. 
Tucker, Rev. T. W., 2()S. 
Turner, H., 340. 
Tyng, Rev. S. H., 289. 
Tyrker, 19. 



Upham, Rev. S. F., 27.'?. 

Usher, A. T., 233. 

Usher. A. T. &T. J.,:i71. 

Usher, H., 214, 216. 

Usher, James, 30)5. 

Usher. Rev. John, 144. 149, 150, 152, 

153, 165, 181, 222, 340. 
Usher's Cove, 148. 



396 



INDEX. 



Valuation of Bristol Co., 183. 

Van Doom, A., 214. 

Van Doom, M., 341. 

Van Zandt, C. C, 383. 

Vassal Farm, 244. 

Vassal, W., 244. 

Vendue Master, 163. 

Verruzano, 24. 

Vinland, 19. 

Vinson, J. H., 306. 

Waldron, A., 247, 273. 

Waldron, D., 273. 

Waldron, J., 96, 214. 

M^aldron, J. D., .335. 

Waldron, S., 92. 

Waldron, T., 146. 

Waldron, W. T., 263. 

Walker J., 150, 163. 

Walker, T., 118, 119, 123. 

Walker, W., 141, 145. 

Walley House, 105. 

Walley, J., 74, 84, 96, 97, 116, 120, 

122, 128, 131, 383. 
Wampanoag Indians, 28. 
Wamsutta, 37. 
Wardwell, A., 263, 299. 
Wardwell, H., 308. 
Wardwell, S., 235, 246, 247, 252. 
Wardwell, W., 214. 
Wardwell, W. T. C, 335. 



Washington, General, 242, 252. 

Waterman, Rev. H., 364. 

"Water Witch," 311. 

Weeden, J. S.,266. 

Weetamoe, 42. 

Weir, J., 368. 

West, W., 312. 

West, W. H.,347. 

Whaleboats and Whaleships, 184, 

.368,370,371. 
Whipping Post, etc., 166. 
Whitefield, Rev. G., 262. 
Wight, Rev. H., 224, 252. 
Wight, J., 339. 
Wilkins, J., 97. 
Williams N., 97. 
Williams, W. F., 365. 
Wilson, J., 312. 
Wilson, O., 303, .306, 314. 
Winchell, Rev. J. M., 295, 296. 
Winslow, E., 28, 31. 
AVinter of (1779-80), 241. 
Woodbridge, Rev. B., Ill, 125. 
Woodbury, H., 92. 
Woodbury, J., 1.59, 160, Kil. 
Woodbury, S., 97, 128, 131. 
Writing on Rock, 389. 

Yamoyden, 293. 
" Yankee," 302. 
" Yankee Lass," 315. 



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